Why do so many specifiers and businesses not replace old inefficient oil boilers with modern high-efficiency LPG boilers?
Historically there have been a number of reasons. However, there have never been so many financial, social and operational benefits that an LPG heating solution can now offer, over oil.
Keith Higginson, Calor’s commercial marketing manager, suggests that LPG could now be the most viable heating fuel for rural businesses.
Calor is on a mission to set the story straight for LPG by revealing its advantages over oil, to off-mains gas businesses. Any business or heating consultant intent on reducing heating costs and lowering carbon output need look no further than the cost effective, environmentally friendly option of a modern LPG-based heating system.
"Thanks to recent developments in technology certain LPG boilers solutions can now offer much higher ‘heating system’ efficiencies, and therefore, greater savings than new oil boilers," he said. "Before we consider these, let’s first tackle some of the reasons why LPG has too easily been dismissed in favour of oil.
"Calor’s experience suggests that LPG has often not been the specifier’s first option when considering replacements options for an existing oil boiler. As a consequence LPG’s benefits are not even considered or compared. We have also found that when LPG was
given consideration, it was regularly dismissed based on historical views about the product, rather than the modern energy solution
that Calor can now offer.
"Supply contract, tank and pipework installation, plus the physical heating solution, can now all be offered in one simple end-to-end
process. Calor can even arrange removal of your existing oil tank and boiler.
"With many old oil boilers running at below 50% efficiency, the temptation has been to simply upgrade the appliance to a modern,
high efficiency, oil boiler and financially benefit from a sizable efficiency gain. However, switching to certain LPG boiler systems can deliver even higher efficiency gains that more than cover the costs associated with switching to a new fuel."
In conjunction with a specialist heating partner, Blades Low Carbon Systems, Calor has the potential to propose LPG heating solutions
that operate at even higher efficiencies than new oil systems.
Higher efficiencies result in lower year-on-year fuel costs and swifter paybacks. Through Blades Calor can also provide access to finance - subject to terms and conditions. An LPG boiler solution from Calor and Blades can, in many circumstances, deliver fuel bills reductions that more than cover both fuel switching and lease costs – thereby easing a client’s monthly cash flow and improving monthly profits.
The savings are achieved by delivering heightened efficiency to a building’s whole heating system - without the need to replace the
building’s existing radiator system or pipe work. Indeed, the savings occur within a fairly broad LPG price band, meaning that savings, to a greater or lessor extent are still maintained in spite of price fluctuations.
Oil prices fluctuate significantly throughout the year compared to LPG prices, so switching to LPG enables clients to budget more accurately. As already intimated, the overall running costs of a system, its capital cost and true operating efficiency is more
important than the price of the fuel. Unlike many heating systems, a Blades system has designed-in elements that both boost efficiency and ensure the system’s peak efficiency is maintained at all times.
"Many oil or LPG condensing boilers seldom run anywhere near their quoted efficiency limits as they are not fully compatible with
the building’s existing radiator system," added Keith Higginson. "This is not the case with a Blades system installation which is designed to run efficiently with old radiator systems. Indeed, when calculating operating efficiencies and fuel savings, the Blades team always leans towards conservative estimates, so that quoted fuel and carbon savings are achieved, if not bettered, in practice.
"Having established that an LPG system can actually be cheaper than oil, CalorForce, Calor’s in-house engineering and installation
team, will be on hand to complete any necessary work to switch from oil. Wherever your business is based, CalorForce can manage
the installation of the new LPG installation and if required, we will arrange for the removal of the old oil tank. The team will also take care of the appliance installation and commissioning."
When an LPG supply contract is signed, the storage tank remains the property of Calor, which is also liable for its insurance and continued maintenance. Calor also offers variable direct debit payments to minimise administration, and will happily install its ‘ThinkTank’ technology free of charge.
ThinkTank is a remote tank contents monitoring system that keeps an eye on your LPG level. Top-ups are instigated by Calor so clients do not have to worry about ordering or running out of fuel.
