Our natural fuel resources, such as oil and gas, are running low, and as a result, heating a household is becoming more expensive with each passing year. Furthermore, concerns about global warming have led many of us to look to reduce our fuel consumption as a means of reducing our carbon footprint. Thankfully, advances in boiler and central heating technology have made it possible for many households to reduce their fuel consumption without having to freeze to death.

Modern, high efficiency condensing boilers convert around 90% of their fuel into heat, compared to 79% for conventional types. They achieve a large part of this efficiency increase by employing a larger, or sometimes an additional, heat exchanger. This captures much of the energy that would otherwise be lost through the flue, cooling the flue gases to the point where water vapour, which is produced during combustion, condenses, hence the name ?condensing boiler?.

Most boilers that are more than ten years old are not going to be nearly as energy efficient as newer models. If it's older than fifteen years old, then the chances are that it's costing you more in wasted fuel than you are saving by not buying a newer, more fuel efficient model. New regulations, introduced in UK in 2005, require all new boilers to meet certain standards of energy efficiency. This has meant that the vast majority of new boilers fitted in the UK are of the high efficiency condensing type. A new efficient boiler will also lead to less boiler repair costs.

The more control that you have over your heating, the more money you can save by avoiding wasting energy, for example by heating empty rooms, or heating the house while you are out.

Over four fifths of all the energy consumed by the average household goes on heating the home and providing hot water. Even if you install the bare minimum of modern controls, it could still reduce your fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 20%. If you turn your thermostat down by a mere 1'C in order to reduce the average temperature in the house by a barely noticeable amount, you can reduce your overall consumption by 10%. You can also save a further 6% by having your heating on for two hours less each day.

By installing better controls in your heating system, your boiler will be able to provide different levels of heat to different rooms, maintain a constant temperature by reacting to atmospheric changes, and turn the water heater on and off according to a pre set schedule. Used correctly and with energy efficiency in mind, modern heating controls will pay for themselves in less than five years.