The Benefits of Efficient Gas Boilers

Gas boilers are huge energy-wasting culprits in homes, business premises and public sector buildings across the UK. All domestic appliances are rated according to their energy efficiency with A being the best and G the worst, you can use this handy database from British Gas to discover how efficient your own boiler is.  Substantial savings in £'s and CO2 can be acheived by replacing inefficient boilers with A rated ones. This table shows the efficiency ratings of the kind of boilers we have replaced with Viessman units (which are as high as 95% efficient!), and the subsequent savings per installation.

 

Data taken from here



Since December 2010 we have replaced 21 inefficient gas boilers with A rated Viessmann 100 or 200 models as required, generally the boiler installations have been 'A' rated in place of 'G' rated boilers. Some of the old boilers actually had efficiency percentages as low as 40%, meaning that for every £1 spent on heating bills 60p was pure waste. Using the money and carbon savings shown above this equates to total savings of approximately £4,500 and 22 tonnes of C02 per year. These are exactly the kind of benefits that Norman Environmental wish to impart on our clients and the environment, translating as a yearly return on investment of nearly 12%.

The majority of this work has been completed for the Health Through Warmth scheme in the Vale of Glamorgan. The scheme is designed to provide vulnerable people with improved or brand new heating systems, as well as building insulation and other efficiency measures to keep their costs as low as possible.

Now help is available for the vulnerable in all areas of the country as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, has announced that the Warm Front scheme has been restarted with a fund of £110m.  It had been closed down in December 2010 but the new fund should help installers across England bring around 44,000 people out of fuel poverty.

Of course you don't have to be vulnerable or in fuel poverty to suffer from excessive energy bills as they can eat a large chunk out of your home budget, or even your profit and loss sheet. Norman Environmental can help you cut the bills in your home or workplace with our cost effective solutions. Visit our website for more information or email us for a free survey.

Crowvalley Cattery

The owners of Crowvalley Cattery, Mr and Mrs Williams, know all about good business sense, their cattery has been top-level service to local cat-lovers in South Wales for over 10 years, they have a successful short-hair cat breeding business and Mrs Williams is a top-class seamstress.  It was natural therefore that they would seek to invest in microgeneration to reduce their bills and gain a 25 year income, with a solar PV installation.

Crowvalley Cattery

Norman Environmental were the obvious choice for a couple looking for the same quality, care and attention they provide their own clients' feline family members. We specified a bespoke frame to take advantage of the southerly aspect enjoyed by the cattery roof, upon which we have mounted 8 Jinko 235M panels connected to an Eversolar inverter, to provide a 1.88kW installation.




The installation is performing very well in the spring sunshine we have been enjoying so far and Mr and Mrs Williams are proudly showing it off at any opportunity:

8 panel installation at The Crowvalley Cattery

"We're the envy of all our friends, many of them have stopped by just to take a look at the solar panels - we're very happy with it."

Over a period of 25 years the cattery should benefit by upwards of £30,000 cumulative income, assuming a moderate and steady inflation rate. The starting tariff is the 43.3p per unit (brought in by DECC for all installations from 01/04/2011 to 31/3/2012) and this will adjust with inflation, as will the benefit gained by avoiding importing energy from the grid.

Crowvalley

Crowvalley is a beautiful part of South Wales with ample opportunity for the local people to reap the benefits of renewable energy solutions.  Norman Environmental will be keeping in close contact with the Cattery, as we do all our clients, to keep tabs on the performance of their installation - the results of which will be published on our website.

 

Company Launch

It was our proud duty to launch Norman Environmental on 11/3/2011 with a presentation event near our offices in Cardiff.  The event was attended by local businesses and homeowners with a vested interest in decreasing their yearly energy spend and putting more money in their own pockets – rather than the utility companies'.  Also in attendance were Jenny Willott MP and Cardiff Councillor and Lib Dem Welsh Assembly candidate, Nigel Howells - who made time in their busy schedules to come and hear about what we do.



(L to R) Liam Norman, Jenny Willott, Nigel Howells and Stephen Norman

at the launch of Norman Environmental Ltd

The event kicked off with refreshments and an open forum where our guests could visit various stands to hear more about the energy savings and benefits of some of our products and services, such as; building insulation, low energy lights, smart electrical controls, high efficiency gas boilers, water saving devices, solar thermal and solar photo voltaic.  The event was supported by our friends from Dr Ecostein, Viessmann, Lloyds TSB and Lewis Ballard Accountants – who each had their own displays.

Our friends at Spiro’s outside catering provided some nibbles for the gathered throng of energy saving enthusiasts and Liam outlined in his presentation the reasons why we should all reduce our energy consumption in the UK, including:

·         Gas prices are set to rise by as much as 48% by 2025

·         Electricity prices may increase by 71% in the same period

·         Prices grew by 92% for gas and 57% for electricity between 2004-2009

Before showing how businesses can afford to invest in saving energy through;

·         The Carbon Trust

·         Enhanced Capital Allowances

·         Potentially massive annual savings

Whilst all property owners can afford to invest in their building services thanks to;

·         The Feed in Tariff,

·         The Renewable Heat Incentive, and

·         Annual Savings - a real return on investment

Liam ended the presentation by outlining how Norman Environmental assess the individual needs of each client to identify the most efficient means of reducing their energy bills and carbon output, thereby providing the greatest benefits possible.

Jenny Willott MP was then kind enough to say a few words to our guests, and was clearly impressed by Norman Environmental (she even made an example of us in a parliamentary debate, as you can see here) and had some kind words to say:

“I’m really impressed by Norman Environmental’s commitment to helping people reduce their energy consumption and invest in renewable technologies. 

“We all need to change how we live and the energy we use, but it can be difficult to know where to start.  We need companies like Norman Environmental to make it easy and show us how simple it can be to make a real difference.”

Whilst Cllr Nigel Howells, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Cardiff Central in the Welsh Assembly elections and Cardiff Councillor, said:

“Businesses like Norman Environmental are a major part of Cardiff’s economy and help make Cardiff the centre of Welsh business.”

The event was closed by Stephen, who offered  thanks to all our guests, especially those who helped us put on the launch event, and afterwards we headed off to the Dizzy Llama to celebrate with a meal and a few drinks.

This is the start of a long and exciting journey for Norman Environmental and we’d like you all to come with us!  So to keep in touch you can find our twitter feed @NormanEnviro, 'like' us on Facebook, or subscribe to this blog - very soon you will be able to sign up to our monthly e-newsletter that will give you the best of our monthly content, and keep you posted on our energy saving tips and any offers or prizes we may be promoting.

Remember, wasted energy is wasted money!