The UK has one of the highest domestic boiler replacement rates in Europe, but a new website (www.theheatinghub.co.uk) and suite of services launched by The Heating Hub aims to help consumers select the right boiler for their homes and reduce the premature replacement of heating systems.
The Heating Hub's Founders, (L-R) Jo Alsop and Caroline Williams
Targeted at the 1.7 million UK consumers that fit a new boiler every year, The Heating Hub will ensure that newly fitted heating systems will work at peak efficiency, thereby extending the lifetime of the boiler.
The Heating Hub’s new website offers consumers free, impartial advice and guides on selecting the correct boiler for their home. The platform provides unbiased, comprehensive product comparisons to make researching and buying a new boiler quicker and easier.
The company also offers an impartial, paid-for ‘Hero Support’ service which takes care of the entire process of boiler research and selection, and connects customers with a highly competent installer from the company’s nationwide network of elite engineers.
The Heating Hub’s Founder, Jo Alsop, said: “For too long the UK’s domestic heating industry has been focused on volume boiler sales rather than on advising consumers about how to choose long-lasting, efficient systems, but the cracks are starting to show. It cannot be acceptable that, on average, boilers in Germany last 10 years longer than in the UK.
“In the vast majority of UK homes, we find an oversized boiler, incorrect setup and ineffective controls, including many smart controls. So little is understood about the damage this causes that UK consumers have come to believe a boiler will last on average between seven and 12 years, when it should last 22 years. As a result, we have one of the highest boiler replacement rates in Europe.”
“The market is a real mix of low-tech and high-tech boilers, basic and advanced controls, and vast gaps in knowledge between the highest and lowest skilled engineers, but this is all hidden from the consumer when they make their decision.
“We have launched our new website and services to champion consumer rights by providing free, unbiased advice on how to select the correct boiler for their home. Meanwhile, our end-to-end Hero Support service takes care of the entire process from initial research through to providing an independent, expert recommendation, and arranging an installer from our elite network to carry out a survey and install one of our shortlisted boilers.”
The Heating Hub’s Hero Support package is the first UK service to prioritise correct heating system design and the highest level of installer competency. The company’s hands-on service takes the worry out of choosing the right boiler and the lottery out of finding an installer from the limited numbers of engineers trained to fit modern boilers correctly to work at their optimum efficiency.
The average lifetime of a new boiler in the UK is seven years, while in Germany the average age at replacement is 17 years, and 40% of heating systems are over 20 years old. With 1.7 million new boilers fitted in the UK each year, at an average cost of £2,500, consumers spend in excess of £4.25 billion per annum on new boiler installations.
Jo continued: “The premature replacement of boilers is costing UK households £1,000s, while incorrect installation and setup reduce the efficiency of heating systems, costing additional expense in wasted fuel.
“This is completely avoidable, and is a result of several factors including incorrect boiler installation and set-up (which causes boilers to wear out more quickly), inappropriate boiler choice (such as oversized boilers being recommended by installers), and consumers mistakenly believing that a new boiler only lasts between seven and 10 years.
“If the operational lifetime of a boiler were extended to 22 years, UK consumers could save around £8.5 billion over the period, with the average household saving nearly £7,000. Our services provide consumers with the facts about heating systems along with impartial, expert advice to help them select and install the very best boiler package for their household needs.”
Every boiler on The Heating Hub shortlist has been vetted by the company’s Expert Panel – a group of heating experts committed to improving efficiency across the UK’s domestic heating sector – against a stringent set of criteria to ensure only the best, most energy efficient and reliable boilers are recommended to customers.
Informed by decades of industry experience, The Heating Hub’s Expert Panel has shortlisted the best boilers and handpicked the best installation engineers, in order to save consumers time and money by getting them the right heating system for their home.
Jo Alsop continued: “With the help of our Expert Panel, The Heating Hub has developed its own higher design and efficiency standard – the Healthy Heating Standard – to deliver properly designed, set up and installed heating systems. Our network of elite heating engineers are capable of properly installing and setting up the most efficient, high tech boilers, saving consumers £1,000s over the lifetime of their boiler.
“Our independent services take the hassle out of choosing and installing a new boiler, providing consumers with total peace of mind and the best heating solution for their home.”