How to Choose the BEST Boiler for Your Home (In 3 Easy Steps!)

when getting a new boiler how do you decide which one is best for you that's the question we'll be answering in this video so whether you live in a small flat or a giant townhouse by the end of this video you'll know exactly what kind of boiler will be best suited for your home before we get started be sure to subscribe to our channel for more information on boilers and other Green Home Heating Technologies [Music] to ensure you're getting the best boiler for your home there are some questions you need to ask yourself the first of these questions is which fuel type is the best for my home there are four main fuels that are used to power boilers gas oil electricity and biomass due to the gas grid natural gas is the most commonly used fuel for boilers in the UK in fact over 85 percent of homeowners in Britain use natural gas to heat their homes natural gas has historically been the cheapest fuel for home heating too with the current cost per kilowatt hour being capped at 10 P however you will only benefit from these low prices if you're connected to the gas grid for those not connected to the gas grid an oil boiler can be a good option for heating your home oil is priced at a similar level to gas per kilowatt hour but is usually slightly more expensive you will have to ensure that you stay stocked up on fuel to power your boiler too as you won't get an automatic Supply a drawback of oil and gas boilers is that they aren't exactly good for the environment because they burn fossil fuels even a new a-rated gas or oil burner will convert around seven percent of the fuel it uses into CO2 and release it into the atmosphere so if you're conscious of the environment and you want to help prevent climate change you might want to try a fuel that's a bit Greener like the electric boiler the majority of electric boilers have 100 efficiency and release No CO2 into the atmosphere plus if you get your electricity from a green energy supplier there will be no CO2 produced when generating that electricity that heats your home unfortunately the main drawback of electric boilers is how expensive they are to run with the current price cap set to 34p per kilowatt hour for electricity it is more than three times more expensive than fuels like gas and oil electric boilers aren't the only green option though as you could always invest in a biomass boiler these boilers burned wood to provide heat to your home effectively makes them carbon neutral many biomass fuel providers plant new trees to replace the ones they cut down to there are some downsides to biomass boilers though as they require refilling frequently and tend to take up quite a bit of room they also aren't the cheapest things to buy however they are pretty cheap to run with an average running cost of 6 to 7p per kilowatt hour with costs on all boiler fuels constantly fluctuating and being uncertain it could also be a good idea to explore which boilers can be combined with solar panels to hit your home for less and it just so happens that we can help you find the best solar panels for your home you can find a link in the description if you are interested anyway now that you know which fuel types are better and should have a better idea of which one is best suited to you it's time to ask yourself the next question which is what type of boiler would best suit my home there are three types of boiler Combi boilers system boilers and regular or conventional boilers while the actual boilers themselves may look the same on the outside they actually work very differently Combi boilers short for combination boilers are the most compact boilers on the market they heat the water for your central heating and hot running water without the need for any external components connect them to your home's plumbing and a fuel source and they are ready to go it's no wonder they are the most popular type of boiler in the UK over 50 percent of UK homes have them installed Combi boilers aren't perfect though if you have low water pressure or a large home well these scrappy little units might not have the power to keep your home heated and the hot water running that's where their bigger brother the system boiler comes in boilers are different from Combi boilers in that they provide hot water to your home central heating directly but employ a little extra help from a hot water storage cylinder the cylinder stores a large supply of hot water and keeps it warm for distribution to your Taps and showers this allows a system boiler to provide ample hot running water and central heating to properties that are too big for a Combi to handle they do take up a bit more room hot water cylinders aren't small but if you already have an airing cupboard and need enough hot water to supply a large house with more than one bathroom a system boiler will probably be the best choice for you that is unless you already have a regular also known as conventional boiler installed regular boilers are the oldest type of boiler and used to be the norm in properties of all shapes and sizes however as technology improved and people wanted to make more room in their homes there was a large shift away from using regular boilers due to their size regular boilers don't just need a hot water cylinder to provide hot running water to a property they also need a cold water feed tank to act as their water supply the feed tank is usually located in the loft or attic and will generally take up a lot of space therefore the main reason for getting a new regular boiler is to replace an old one this reduces installation costs as there is no need to alter the pipe work however a new Combi or system boiler would free up a considerable amount of space in the Loft and give you more freedom if you wanted to relocate the boiler itself so in the end the type of boiler you go for boils down to the size of your house and how much space you are willing to give up for it so you've picked your fuel and decided on the type of boiler you want the last question to ask yourself is what size of boiler will be best for your home it's actually pretty easy to work out first of all size doesn't necessarily mean physical size we'll mainly be looking at a boiler's output in kilowatts the majority of UK homes use boilers with outputs between 24 and 42 kilowatts a good way to work out what output size is best for your home is to allow for 1.5 or 2 kilowatts for every Radiator in your home for example a home with 10 radiators would need a boiler with an output of around 20 kilowatts obviously this is just a guide and we'd recommend contacting a heating engineer to ensure you get the right boiler size as you've maybe not counted the radiators in your home recently we'd thought we'd list some common home sizes and the boiler output that would be suitable for them a two-bedroom property will generally need a boiler with an output size of nine kilowatts or higher this goes up to 16 kilowatts or more for a three bedroom property and 20 kilowatts or more for a building with four bedrooms while a large five-bedroom home will require a boiler with an output of around 28 kilowatts plus again these are just guidelines and the numbers will change based on which type of boiler you choose and how efficient your radiators are we highly recommend getting advice from a heating engineer to ensure you get the right size of boiler for your home and as luck would have it we can help you with finding qualified heating engineers in your area simply fill out our form in less than a minute and we'll put you in contact with up to four heating installers near you this saves you the hassle of having to spend hours doing research and contacting them individually and has a nice added benefit of allowing you to compare quotes and pick the offer that best suits you our service is completely free and non-binding so click the link in the description if you want to get started if you found this video useful then feel free to leave us a like and if you want to see more helpful videos about heating systems in the future be sure to subscribe too all the best see you in the next one foreign

Channel: GreenMatch UK

Views: 12,712

Keywords: boiler, heating, oil boiler, gas boiler, electric boiler, biomass boiler, home improvement, home heating, home heating systems

Id: kN6jMAY4AB4

Length: 8min 13sec (493 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 10 2023