Boilers Condensing technology
clear about where their products are being applied.”
Mark Northcott of manufacturer Broag-Remeha
argues that the EU is setting unrealistic NOx limits for
political reasons. “The NOx targets are not achievable,”
he told the seminar. “This is an attempt by the legislators
to make nuclear energy more attractive. It is politically
driven and there is very little the heating industry can
do about it, even though we keep pointing out that these
levels are just daft.”
However, he also believes that focusing on NOx, in
principle, is the right thing for the EU to do because
NOx has become the “forgotten greenhouse gas”. He
Unless we
points out that it is many times more effective than CO
2
at trapping heat and remains in the atmosphere for more
see some major
than 150 years. NOx has serious implications for human
moves from health and has been linked with respiratory diseases,
manufacturers
lung damage and heart attacks. It also contributes to
acid rain, ground-level ozone and smog.
and the UK
“We are ignoring a big problem with NOx,” Northcott
government, concedes. “However, we could make serious inroads
we will not see
by replacing ageing boilers with modern condensing
alternatives. Condensing technology should be regarded
a big shift into
as a sustainable strategy – not just a product.”
Under threat... future legislation will profoundly effect the sector renewables in Northcott insists that condensing boilers can reduce >
the commercial
> can bring the overall efficiency up to that level. However,
a NOx limit of 40ppm will be allowed if 30 per cent of the
market
system capacity is delivered by renewables – an apparent – Andrew
attempt to drive up the use of renewables.
Giles (above),
Threat
Building Services
The whole oil-fired boiler industry is under threat from Research and
the directive because its products cannot achieve the
Information
NOx limits at all, according to Hughes.
“This will have a profound impact on the whole boiler
Association
market,” he says. “Even condensing boilers can’t meet
the NOx limits, so all systems in the future will have to
have a renewable element. Product labelling is going to
be very complex and manufacturers will have to be very Downturn... but the domestic market will start to stablise in 2010
High efficiency has a chance to take off
Both the commercial and heating markets that the domestic boiler market shrunk by million units sold in 2007. It also has the most
are going through radical changes brought five per cent in 2008, while commercial mature condensing boiler market thanks to the
on not just by the recession, but also by boilers remained fairly resilient and actually transformation brought about by the changes
technology changes and new approaches grew by three per cent. However, both are to the Building Regulations in 2005.
to system design. Future legislation is also set for a sharp downturn in 2009, according Almost every domestic boiler now sold
likely to have a profound impact on this to the research body’s head of worldwide in the UK is condensing – and forthcoming
sector. market intelligence Andrew Giles. He changes to European legislation mean that
The general slowdown in consultants’ predicts a nine per cent fall in domestic and pattern will be repeated in the commercial
workload as the recession bites is reflected an eight per cent drop in commercial boilers. sector. The commercial boiler market
across all market sectors, but there is a In 2010, the domestic market will start – anything above 50kW is classified as
greater air of optimism around heating. to stabilise, falling by just two per cent, commercial – has hovered around the 30,000
There is also a feeling that, because while commercial sales will continue their units per annum mark for some time now,
renewables will take a long time to really downward path by a further seven per cent. which makes it the fifth largest in the world.
take off, established high-efficiency heating But after that things start to look much Now, however, the nature of the market
technologies have a real opportunity. healthier. is changing with a major shift away from
The Building Services Research and The UK still has by far the largest domestic traditional pressure jet burners to pre-mix
Information Association (BSRIA) reports boiler market in the world with more than 1.8 and wall-hung products.
60 CIBSE Journal February 2009
www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEfeb09pp58-62 boilers•.indd 60 5/2/09 14:38:11
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