Hundreds Of Thousands Of UK Homes Have Had Boiler upgrades Fitted Which Instead Of Saving Them Money As Promised Rack Up Energy Bills By Hundreds Of Pounds
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Hundreds of thousands of UK homes have had boiler 'upgrades' fitted which, instead of saving them money as promised, rack up energy bills by hundreds of pounds.
This is Money has learned that non-compliant parts which break energy efficiency regulations are being shipped in from China and sold to plumbers for use in people's homes.
What's more, many are being fitted with taxpayers' money.
The problem surrounds water circulation pumps which, designed properly, improve how gas boilers and heat pumps move water around a home. Around 1million are fitted to UK households every year.
The big advantage of modern pumps is that they change their speed based on the demand for heating in the home, and therefore save electricity versus older inefficient models.
But another big selling point is they lower water bills for households with a meter, as there is less cold water going down the drain.
Boiler breach: Non-compliant versions of above-board circulator pumps like this are still being sold in the UK, adding to household energy bills
But around 10 per cent of circulator pumps - 100,000 a year - do not meet UK regulations, according to industry experts.
This is a problem for homeowners because non-compliant pumps run non-stop and use huge amounts of energy.
One of these pumps uses around the same energy as a fridge, adding up to £129 a year to energy bills, per pump, compared to ones that meet European regulations on energy efficiency.
These dubious pumps are sold under 20 brand names and are all made in the same three or four factories in China, according to the world's largest pump manufacturer, Grundfos, which is now speaking out about the practice.
RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share 33 shares HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP From there these pumps are shipped to the UK, where they are distributed via wholesalers to plumbers, who then go out and fit them to UK homes.
However, local plumbers norwich and wholesalers are not to blame, according to Grundfos product management director Chris Skeen. Instead, the pump maker called on the Government to do better investigations and stop the dodgy pumps at the border before they hit retailers' shelves.
Some non-compliant pumps even carry fake 'CE' markings to try to mislead consumers.
'CE' stands for 'Conformité Européene', and is meant to be a seal of approval that shows a product meets European health, safety and environmental rules.
Nice to have: Water circulator pumps help push hot water around properties as needed
However, some manufacturers have been stamping 'CE' on non-compliant pumps, using a similar font, but which actually stands for 'China Export', according to the British Pump Manufacturers Association trade body.
Wayne Rose, chief executive of the BPMA, said: 'We estimate that circa 10 per cent of the one million central heating pumps being brought into the UK are non-compliant.
patreon.com'Once fitted, they are costing consumers hundreds of pounds every year on their heating bills, and it is seriously impacting the UK's ability to meet its net zero obligations.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS money" data-version="2" id="mol-26049d90-f950-11ed-8d53-29f4e4352cd0" website flooded with dodgy boiler upgrade pumps that rack up energy bills
