Fuel poverty is becoming an increasing problem here in the UK, but there are a couple of companies doing their very best to try and combat this growing dilemma. So what exactly is fuel poverty? According to Department of Energy & Climate Change, fuel poverty occurs when a household “has to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime (usually 21 degrees for the main living area, and 18 degrees for other occupied rooms).”
 
There are a variety of factors to take into account when calculating a residence’s fuel poverty, but we won’t get into the finer details of it, however you can find more information here.

According to research, also conducted by the Department of Energy & Climate Change, there could be up to 4.6 million households in England that are currently in “fuel poverty”. (source BBC) That has caused the government to vow to eradicate fuel poverty completely by 2016, considering about 16% of all UK households are classifiable as being in fuel poverty.

However, the government aren’t the only body to do their part in eliminating this problem, the Scottish Gas and Link Housing Association will be trialling a new Baxi Ecogen micro-combined heat and power appliance (micro-CHP). That is a mouthful, but in laymen’s terms the micro-CHP delivers renewable electricity and heat by making use of bio-natural gas.

This will also result in lower carbon emissions, because the electricity is generated where it will be used, it bypasses the system energy losses that are generally associated with central power distribution.

The first trial unit (supplied by Baxi parts) has already been supplied to a tenant in Drip Road, Stirling and both organisations are monitoring the progress made very carefully.

Deborah Skelton Business Development manager for Scottish Gas, Contract Partnerships said "This is the first Baxi Ecogen micro-CHP boiler to be installed in Scotland and we are very pleased to be a part of this project with Link Housing Association.
 
"Baxi Ecogen is a fully automatic gas fired wall mounted condensing heat only boiler which will produce up to 1kW of electricity for the tenant. The electricity excess to requirements at the time of production will be fed back into the national grid which will have good cost savings for the tenant as well as saving energy and reducing carbon emissions."

This could be a great way for all of us, not only the elderly, to save money by “creating” our own electricity at home and if anything should go wrong with the micro-CHP then be sure that if you have any boiler problems, Baxi boiler repair will be able to assist you.

Winter is well and truly here and that of course means more expensive utility bills, but it doesn’t have to. Here is a list of simple day to day changes that you can make in and around your home to help optimise your utility usage.

One of the first steps you should take is to double check how old your boiler is, generally boilers older than 10 years will be much less energy efficient than newer models, so if your boiler is older, then it might be worth your while to investigate upgrading or find out if newer boiler parts will make a positive difference. If you do buy a new boiler, it might be worth investigating some extended warrantee options from Baxi boiler repair to help protect yourself against the unexpected. Not just from a financial point of view, but also an environmental one.

Minimising our carbon footprint has become more vital than ever and we can all make small changes to our lifestyles to help take a couple of steps in the right direction, steps that include:

•    Never leave appliances on standby because you could, in theory, save up to £37 per year simply by turning off your television instead of having it on standby. (source: energywatch, the gas and electricity watchdog)

•    Turning down the thermostat is one of the easiest ways to lower your utility bills, if you turn your thermostat down a single degree you could save up to 10% on your heating bills. (source: Energy Saving Trust)


•    Insulation is vital, because you can, by sticking to the recommended depth of 270mm save up to £180 per year because the insulation will counteract the heat escaping through the walls and roof.

It really is that simple, by making a couple of small changes we can all make a very big difference. For more information visit the Baxi boiler maintenance website.

It is that time of year again, when we turn on our heating systems to help warm us up against the chill outside. It is also vital that during that time we all take special care to ensure that your home is as carbon monoxide safe as possible. So what is carbon monoxide and why do you need to minimise the amount emitted by your boiler?

Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that is produced by the combustion of general fossil fuels, so fuels that include gas, wood, coal, oil, etc. Generally your boiler will not emit enough carbon monoxide to become an issue, but if you would like to make double sure, here are some tips for minimising your boiler’s (and other carbon monoxide emitting appliances like gas ovens, open fires, etc) carbon monoxide output.

•    If you are installing a new gas appliance double check that the person installing it is a registered Gas Safe heating engineer.

•    You have to have your gas appliances serviced at least once a year. When you do have them serviced you will once again need to make sure that you contact a registered Gas Safe engineers. A handy solution to this is to have heateam, the experienced Baxi boiler repair team, do your annual service.


•    Never block any provided ventilation areas around your boiler parts.

•    If you want it can also be a good idea to buy a carbon monoxide detector so that you know exactly when the levels being emitted become hazardous.


That is how simple it is to keep your carbon monoxide emissions to a minimum, if you would like more information regarding the topic or extended warrantees feel free to visit the Baxi boiler repair site.