Heating controls can cut bills by 40% - so why are they not in every home?

With the nights drawing in, a nip in the air - energy costs and fuel bills yet again significantly going up, 'cold homes', it's timely to talk about our media work for BEAMA's heating controls group - TACMA.

BEAMA's been our client for nearly 12 years, and research by TACMA has shown that heating controls can cut significantly household heating bills.Working with BEAMA, our news releases and articles 'sell-in' has resulted in great media coverage on the subject in key industry biz titles (off/on-line).

Parliamentary event

This Autumn. BEAMA hosted an event in Parliament to present the findings from the recent research, which found that heating controls can cut household heating bills by up to 40%.

Supported by Laura Sandys MP, the event was well attended by a wide range of key industry figures. Presentations by Salford University and New Experience were followed by a lively discussion on how to ensure that the potential benefits of heating controls are realised in practice.

We interested key H&V editors in attending - this will lead to further media coverage.

Colin Timmins from BEAMA said: "We currently estimate that there are around 11 million homes without suitable heating controls. This new research shows clearly how controls provide a cost effective solution to those people struggling to stay comfortably warm without incurring excessive fuel bills."

White Paper

Alongside the event, BEAMA published a 'white paper' outlining how Government policy could be tweaked to avoid existing missed opportunities to support the greater uptake of controls in UK housing, in particular by:

Amending Part L of the Building Regulations in 2016 so that the installation of TRVs is mandatory with a boiler replacement while a system is drained down
Ensuring that controls play a more prominent role in the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation
Introducing a specific target in the DECC Heat Strategy to improve controls in homes so that all homes have a minimum standard
Increasing the saving value ascribed to TRVs in the SAP methodology in light of this new evidence from the Salford University tests

User Guide

Published to help householders operate their existing controls more effectively to achieve both comfort and efficiency. These documents, together with further details on the Salford University research are available from:

http://www.beama.org.uk/en/product-areas/heating-hot-water--air-movement/heating-controls/parliamentary-event.cfm