If your boiler’s on the blink, your first reaction may be to call for a repair. But knowing when your boiler needs repairing or when it needs replacing can save you a lot of money and can even be a question of safety. West London boiler repair costs can pile up if your system is ageing, and as parts grow rarer you’re going to be facing larger and larger bills for to replace them. It’s a cycle you can easily avoid, but knowing exactly when it’s time to invest in a brand new system can be difficult.
Boilers that were installed even ten years ago are vastly different to the quality systems on the market now. However, the average estimated lifespan for a domestic boiler is 15 years. If your system is nearing that age, and you keeping having to shell out for repairs it’s time to invest. After just one or two boiler repairs West London homeowners will see the costs adding up surprisingly quickly.
However, efficiency can be a tricky thing. It all comes down to your annual usage, and the useful heat your system is actually emitting. Thankfully, to see if the upgrade is worth it, you can work out how much you could save yearly with a new boiler.
To do this, you need to know three pieces of information:
• The amount of gas you use per year in kWh (which can be provided by your utility supplier)
• The energy efficiency rating of your existing boiler in grade and percentage (a quick Google search will tell you this if you know the make and model)
• The energy efficiency of your new boiler
First, work out how much useful heat your existing boiler is emitting per year. You can do this by multiplying your current kWh figure by its percentage efficiency rating. For example, if your boiler is using 15,000 kWh per year and your current efficiency rating is 75%, your 15,000 x 0.75 multiplication will show you that your current boiler is producing 11,250 units of useful heat energy.
Then, find out how much energy your new boiler would need to produce the same number of heat units. Take the useful heat energy currently being produced by your old boiler and divide it by the energy efficiency rating of the new boiler. In this case, the 11,250 units of useful heat will be divided by the energy efficiency rating of a boiler running at 91% efficiency. In this example, the new boiler would need to use 12,362 kWh per year to produce the same amount of heat.
To work out how much money you’ll be saving, simply subtract the gas usage of the new boiler from your current annual gas usage figure. Here, 15,000 kWh minus 12,362 kWh would yield a gas difference of 2,638. Multiply this figure by the current average cost of gas (4.5p per kWh) and you can see that, in this case, an upgrade would save £118.71 annually!
It’s worth bearing in mind that the average new boiler costs around £2,500 in total. If your savings over the next 12-15 years come close to £2,000 in energy consumption alone, then it’s worth investing in a new system when you take the lack of repair costs into account.
There are some signs to point you in the right direction if you are still wondering whether your boiler needs replacing. If your hot water takes a while to come through a tap, this is a sign of an ageing boiler. Frequent resetting or topping up the pressure of a boiler will not only mean extra repair costs but also indicates your system is coming to the end of its lifespan. However, if it’s an isolated issue with a relatively young boiler, a simple servicing can get you back up and running in no time.
For boiler servicing and boiler repair West London homeowners can rely on, look no further than Heywood Heating!