New Rules For Home Heating
Did you know that as of the 1st of January, new European legislation came into force to help address the amount of energy used by products that heat our homes?
The UK Government now also supports this requirement, and in order to help achieve the UK’s overall carbon reduction targets, moving forwards all space heaters within the EU must comply with a minimum energy efficiency standard.
This doesn’t mean you need to immediately change your home heating system, but this is part of the rules governing the industry that has previously required us to move to eco-lightbulbs, vacuum cleaners, televisions, washing machines and gas boilers.
So if, after the cold of winter, you were planning on updating your heating system, we would recommend you take a look at the latest EcoDesign compliant heating appliances to understand what best suit your home and lifestyle. Under the EcoDesign ruling, products already manufactured or imported into Europe prior to the end of 2017 can still be sold, but all new devices must be compliant and this is good news for the homeowner.
Products will need to prove they are compliant, with gas fires labelled to indicate they meet the requirements of the law, and with many electrical heating devices being upgraded by the manufacturer with new features. Most portable electric heating devices, which includes fires, should be compliant or will have been adapted with better thermostats, energy-efficient LED lighting effects or remote control.
The biggest change will be seen in fixed devices that require professional installation, such as electric panel heaters, off-peak high heat retention heaters and storage heaters. These will include, as standard, energy efficient, intelligent controls to minimise the use of energy wastage in your home.
QM 100 Quantum
These controls could include:
Electronic 24/7 Timer Control – This could be an integral programmer or wireless through a smartphone app with WIFI connectivity
Thermostatic Control – Accurate room temperature measurement by an electronic thermostat
Adaptive Start – technology that calculates when a heater should turn on to deliver required room temperature at a required time
Open window recognition – this technology reduces wasted energy by detecting a drop in temperature from an open door or window and turning the heating down
These additional features mean the products might cost a little more, but the EcoDesign rules ensure that you will save more money with reduced energy bills, so you are no more out of pocket compared to an older, non-compliant product. And of course, you will continue to save money long into the future.
At Dimplex, we put innovation in the heart of everything we do and many of our products, such as Quantum, Q-Rad and our new Bathroom Panel Heater were already EcoDesign compliant. We are also dedicating ourselves to bringing hundreds of new compliant devices to market so homeowners can be confident that when buying from us, they are installing the latest technology and safe, energy efficient products into their homes.
If you want to learn more about EcoDesign visit www.lot20.co.uk or www.dimplex.co.uk
