Time to get smarter

The Boiler Plus Standards in 2018 required that heating engineers should fit time and temperature controls at the same time as a new boiler. Plus, for combis, an additional measure must be added, either load compensation, weather compensation, smart controls with automation and optimisation, or flue gas heat recovery.

A review of these standards last year found that many of the required additional measures had been fitted but that consumers didn’t understand the measures or controls as well as they could have done, which may have limited their effectiveness. The broad variety of controls available also had an impact, along with different operating protocols, affecting how well they communicate with and control the boiler.

Smart controls were found to be the most common way to comply with the Boiler Plus standards, followed by load compensation. Smart controls should be able to enable boiler modulation but the review found that not all do this: some couldn’t because of different operational protocols, and that these, in turn, affected how comprehensively some controls function.

The government is consulting on whether new gas boilers should be sold and fitted with Class VI controls in the future: these are weather compensators and room sensors. They should have both weather and load compensation, or advanced weather compensation.

Many internet-enabled smart controls already meet this classification if they are combined with the correct boiler. And non-smart controls can be used if they are fitted and used in

The government intends to implement a range of measures and policies to improve boiler and heating standards and efficiency in 2025. Its wide-ranging consultation covers new requirements that will:

• Reform boiler controls standards

• Tackle boiler oversizing, particularly in combis

• Bring system and regular boilers within the scope of expanded requirements

• Improve the minimum standards for hot water cylinders

• Develop installer skills and seek ways to improve heating system design, commissioning, and maintenance.

The consultation also looks at the roles that hydrogen and hybrid heat pumps could play in improving energy efficiency. It’s open to everyone and ends on 23 March 2023. You can read the whole consultation and provide your own comments at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-boilerstandards-and-efficiency conjunction with an outdoor sensor fitted at the time of installation.

Controls that enable homes to be zoned for individual rooms or areas are also under consideration, and the government has signalled that these could be another way to comply.

Effective communication between the control and boiler is essential in order to improve efficiency but the government acknowledges that different operating protocols can be a barrier because they prevent full interoperability. This means that some controls can’t provide the full functionality that they are designed to do.

Open protocols enable controls and boilers by different manufacturers to communicate with each other and the government is asking whether open protocols should be mandatory. This would mean that boilers would need to have an open protocol or be sold with a Class VI control and an openprotocol adapter. ■