What to do with your old boiler
There is never a good time for your boiler to pack in but unfortunately a particularly harsh winter can often signify an increase in boilers breaking down, due to freezing pipes and extremes in temperature. This can leave many people not only looking for a replacement boiler, often in an emergency, but also with the question of what to do with their old boiler? Environmental standards suggest that taking your old boiler to a scrap centre or leaving it out with the rubbish are not good ways to handle an unusable boiler, so thankfully there are now scrappage schemes in place.
Now when you next require a new boiler there are channels to go through to ensure it is efficiently and environmentally disposed of, with minimum impact and, better yet, there are now government incentives to encourage homeowners to switch to a more energy efficient model. Many online price comparison sites can now tell you if you are paying over the odds for your utilities and, through these, you can see how much gas you are using up compared to what the average is: if you’re paying more than you perhaps should, then it could be the case that you need a more efficient boiler in your home.
Though many people’s boilers have kept their home toasty for years, or decades even, this might not necessarily translate to mean they have an efficient and effective boiler, but instead just reliable one. The government has now announced that up to 125,000 UK households can receive a £400 subsidy towards buying a new boiler if their current boiler is deemed too inefficient and, therefore, contributing to energy wastage. The forward-thinking scheme was laid out in the pre-budget report and looks set to reduce household bills up and down the country and, crucially after the coldest winter in years, will hopefully reduce the number of homes left in the cold and out of pocket when their old boiler breaks down.
Eligible households can receive up to £400 when they choose a new boiler through the scrappage scheme and estimates have suggested that a single household could see hundreds of pounds saved in bills each year plus a reduction in carbon emissions by up to one tonne in the boiler’s lifetime.
To make the upgrade even more appealing, many gas suppliers have now offered deals to match the government’s scrappage grant, meaning that many households could receive up to £800 pounds off the cost of a new boiler, which can cost anywhere up to £3,000. If your boiler is classified as a ‘G’ rating then it meets the default criteria for the scrappage scheme, and there are now websites which tell you whether your boiler is a G rating by filling in some basic model information. However, a G rated boiler is considered the most inefficient boiler, working at below 70% capacity, so even a lower rating can still mean you could be eligible for the boiler scrappage scheme.
