Glow-worm is supporting the Boiler Scrappage scheme, a fantastic initiative launched by Mick Williams, designed to campaign for the Government to take action and help householders replace costly, inefficient boilers.

Read our interview here with Mick Williams

What is the scheme all about? Why was it launched?

It was the car scrappage scheme that made me think of the idea in the first place. It annoyed me that the only real benefit was to boost the car industry, but 80% of new cars are imported and there is no guaranteed environmental benefit whatsoever! Excuse me????

A Boiler Scrappage scheme would guarantee massive environmental benefits, as every new boiler fitted nowadays is miles more efficient than old ones, and it would give a similar boost to UK jobs and small businesses. Did you know that about 70% of boilers are manufactured in this country?

Why should we care?

Well, more and more of us are getting very concerned about global warming, or Climate Change, as we have suddenly started calling it. I’ve got young children, and if we don’t get to grips with the amount of carbon dioxide we are spewing into the atmosphere, I care very much about what the future will bring to them and their children.

I don’t, but if I lived in London, I would very much care about my family’s health as well, because the air quality there is a big problem. In fact, if we don’t improve it rapidly, the UK is in line for a £300m fine from the EU. That’s why Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, also wants a Boiler Scrappage scheme as new boilers are much lower emitters of nitrogen oxide, which is the stuff that helps poison the atmosphere.

OFGEM have just warned of future rises in energy prices as well as worries about getting enough energy over the next few years, so using less gas to heat our homes is a bit of a no brainer!

Incidentally, the Committee for Climate Change are calling for 12m old boilers to be replaced with efficient condensing boilers by 2020 and the CORGI Trust charity is also calling for a Boiler Scrappage scheme to replace old boilers that pose a Carbon Monoxide poisoning risk.

The government has already committed some of taxpayers’ money to reducing carbon dioxide, so I say to them spend some of it on a Boiler Scrappage scheme will be a massive help in solving all of these things.

How will we benefit?

Well, lower gas bills for a start. If you have, for example, an old back boiler, the type with the gas fire on the front, it is certainly less than 65% efficient and probably a lot less than that. Compare that with a new condensing boiler which is as much as 90% efficient. If one of these is in an average 3 bed roomed semi and it is replaced with a new boiler and controls, the gas bills could be more than £250 lower every year and, by the way, would give out more than 1.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide less, every year. Yes, that’s every year!

I guess we all have to be concerned about the economy, too. The construction industry has been hit very badly by this horrible recession and if a Scrappage scheme can save jobs, or even create jobs, then we all benefit. Every time somebody is made redundant it costs us, the taxpayer, in two ways – we lose the tax and NI that worker was paying and we probably have to pay out more in benefits.

Actually, probably the most important way you will benefit will be the warm fluffy feeling you will get when you know you have done your bit to help slow down climate change. The climate problems may come in a few years time, but getting started on the slowing down now is very important.

How can I help?

There is a lot of ways you can help, like signing the petition and writing to your MP to get him to support the Early Day Motion that is currently in Parliament. Check out the campaign website, http://reheatbritain.org.uk to see who is already supporting us and read the ‘How to Help’ page.

Darren Finely, Commercial Director at Glow-worm says:

It is estimated that there are anything from 4 – 4.5million homes with old style boilers which are working on efficiencies of about 70%.  Today’s energy efficient SEDBUK A rated boilers can achieve efficiencies of anything up to 90% plus. If you add in the advances in home insulation, controls and solar thermal then there are seriously significant amounts of energy savings for the end-user and direct benefit to the environment. We support the call for the scheme wholeheartedly. It is a golden opportunity. Mick Williams is to be applauded for his foresight and resolution.

See the latest conversations on the Reheat Britain website or visit Your Hot Topics to see what’s being said on Twitter.