How To Approach An Eco-Home Boiler Installation
Heating your home accounts for up to 50% of your energy use. Choosing the right boiler, and ensuring your installation incorporates efficient practices, has a massive impact on the environment, as well as your wallet. If you do not have the budget for a new boiler, you can apply for free boiler grant as govt is also taking initiative for a greener environment.
Whether you’re looking to improve the energy efficiency of your already eco-friendly home, or are taking your first steps towards a greener lifestyle, this guide will cover the critical aspects of an efficiency increasing boiler installation.
Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into your Boiler
As strange as it may sound, the days of realizing you’ve forgotten to schedule your holiday on your boiler, or even a blackout resetting your perfected heating schedule, are finally behind us! Google has created an AI ‘Nest Learning Thermostat’ that connects to your boiler. This box then contacts your phone, allowing you to lower the temperature of your home when you’re halfway to the airport, or when you’re on the way home from your holiday. Gone are the days of accidentally heating an empty house for two weeks from Costa del Sol!
Automated Heating
Another considerable advancement in boiler installation, also down to the Google Nest, is automated heating for your home. The device learns the heating patterns of your house, and detects and records the heating level that you prefer your house to be at throughout the day. If there’s a sudden heatwave or temperature spikes or dips for another reason, your boiler will then regulate itself and adapt. The Nest also combines with location learning, so that the device detects when you’re at work, and will reduce heating around the times you regularly leave the house, while keeping the heating on if you stay in at the weekend. Check the compatibility of your boiler installation with AI using a boiler and smart home checker.
Plumb in a Solar Water Heating Systems
Just like many eco-homes, your house may already have solar panels installed. Generally, these are the regular solar panels that we typically think of – converting sunlight into electricity using photovoltaic cells. The system is wired into your home and the grid, so is on a separate circuit to your boiler.
However, there is a second type of solar panel also installed on new eco-properties. These are solar water heating systems and vary in appearance as well as use. You’ll know you have them installed if you see rows of pipes rather than the typical panels on your roof. This system works by using sunlight to heat the pipes, so is connected to your plumbing system.
According to Boilerbrain you’ll need a boiler with a tank if you’re looking to incorporate a solar water heating system into your plumbing system. As the system heats water only during sunny times of the day, it requires a tank for storing the water for colder hours, and a backup boiler for the winter months. Therefore you can’t incorporate this system with a combination boiler, as this type doesn’t have a tank. If you do have solar panels fitted, supply this information to your boiler installer – it could save you a lot of call-out costs! Or, check the compatibility of your boiler, by entering your eco-home details.
So, there we have our guide to your eco-home boiler installation. Keep these tips in mind to reduce your carbon footprint and to save money on your heating costs, check out companies like Hometree, who offer a “No price-hike promise”.
