Any ideas of savings?

Capyboppy

At long last our housing trust has started a replacement scheme. We already had the downstairs front room and upstairs main bedroom windows replaced from wood to double glazed upvc. (why they didn't do them all at the same time is beyond me when they were all in similar state of disrepair.) The rest are now halfway being replaced. The kitchen, bathroom and smaller bedroom have been done. The back door and front door are next to be replaced along with their adjoining windows. Apparently these are somehow connected and have to be done together. As well as this the old fashioned gas warm air central heating, which also has a boiler tank with red jacket, is being replaced with a condenser boiler that pumps water through radiators.

Can anyone give a rough idea of what this might save? i.e. percentage wise from the old system to the new. (Probably savings will be through centralheating.) All other measures to try and save money have been taken, such as energy saving lightbulbs, cavity insulation, etc.

Cardew

Double glazing saves very little; especially if you have thick curtains.

A very thick immersion tank jacket and roof insulation are the most cost effective measures.

Old CH systems could have an efficiency as low as 60%, modern condensing boilers as high as 90%.

Capyboppy

Thanks Cardew.

The jacket is on the current old style boiler and is just a standard one. Previously someone I know who has already had the new system put in did say it had saved her money. I was a little hesitant to believe her as we all have such different circumstances and usages. But came to the conclusion once the temperature is reached, a small amount of electric pumping the water round, must beat the gas that was pumped out from the warm air system, plus that also uses electric to fan it round too. Last year it played havoc with my asthma which had deteriated, and we were using calor gas in a portable heater. They cost £14 and in the coldest part of winter lasted 10 days to 2 weeks. We were still paying the normal utility bill in addition.

I knew there wouldn't be much saved on the actual double glazing itself, but hoped there may be a small difference from going to rotting wood, condensation, and mould, to the upvc plastic frames.

moplet_2

The government-funded Energy Saving Trust has a handly online home energy check tool that provides you with a report on things you can do in your home, the savings it will make you and the time it will take to pay back those savings. Visit https://www.est.org.uk/myhome You can view the report online or request a hard copy in the post.

Capyboppy

Link doesn't seem to work moplet. "Page cannot be displayed." I think though as I have said before, most energy saving tips a lot of us already know, although it would have been useful to see the bit on how long it takes to payback the energy.

moplet_2

Try again now - it should be working. Or go straight to the link below for boiler-specific info.

http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/efficientproducts/boilers/

Capyboppy

Thanks for that. A good explaination on the difference between the old style boiler and the condenser boiler. Having had the old one in since we moved into the property on an exchange (about 15 years I didn't know. I am a bit skeptical on some of the savings given though on things like light bulbs, insulation, insulation jackets. According to the savings given our bills should be £0, especially when you think a lot of them say the savings are anything from £20 to £340. Going back to when we had all these things done I can honestly say that we haven't noticed any difference in the bills over time, and that is before all the utility bills went up. I am looking forward though to seeing if there is a saving like everybody says with the boiler. Too many people have told me there definitely is. Roll on the 24th.