Call for boiler scrappage scheme
A "scrappage" scheme to encourage people to replace old boilers and gas fires with more efficient models could save millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, cut gas bills and reduce the risk of gas poisoning, the Corgi Trust has said.
The gas safety charity said that since 1996, more than three quarters of all serious incidents involving the toxic gas carbon monoxide were linked to appliances with open flue systems which have the potential for fumes to spill into the home.
The open flued boilers and fires also tend to be much less energy efficient and use around a third more gas than "room sealed" models, which means they contribute more of the climate change gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Each boiler that is replaced with a more energy efficient, safer model would lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 1.1 tonnes, the report for the trust said.
The Corgi Trust estimated that some five million households have open flued boilers or appliances with a similarly low energy rating, and replacing them all could deliver savings of up to 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year - almost 1% of the UK's total.
Further reductions could be delivered by replacing old gas fires with newer models.
A scrappage scheme which would give people incentives of up to £500 to replace their existing boilers with the more energy efficient ones could also deliver average savings on bills of £156 a year, almost a quarter of their total costs for heating and hot water, the study said.
An incentive scheme which would see an additional 112,900 boilers replaced each year would cost more than £50 million but would save householders some £183 million on their bills over the course of the boilers' lifetimes, the report said.
Nigel Dumbrell, manager of the Corgi Trust, said: "The reduction in fatalities and serious injuries caused by carbon monoxide was the main driver for this research.
"However, there is no doubt that the economies associated with using more energy efficient gas appliances would significantly cut carbon emissions and gas bills too. It's rare to get a scheme that ticks so many boxes - safety, economy and environment - but this really does."
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