If you have a G-rated boiler or below, the chances are it's less than efficient. That's why British Gas is ready to help you replace it now with our £400 boiler scrappage discount. Combined with the government's new £400 boiler scrappage allowance, you will be able to claim £800* towards the cost of getting a new energy-efficient boiler installed.
You can use our guide below to establish your boiler's rating and to see how much money you could save by replacing your boiler.
What do I do next?
* 1 - Do a check on our tool below to see if you have a G or X rated boiler with an efficiency rating of less than 70%.
* 2 - Call us now to arrange a free consultation with one of our experienced heating advisers.
* 3 - Contact the Energy Savings Trust on 0800 512 012 to claim your £400 allowance from the government.
Please note that the Energy Savings Trust will not issue a voucher without confirmation that you have a quote for a new boiler.
HOW EFFICIENT IS MY BOILER?
Wednesday 6 January 2010
Tuesday 5 January 2010
Is my boiler G-rated?
A government scrappage scheme that gives people £400 off on the price of a new boiler has been launched today.
Up to 125,000 households in England could benefit from the £50million scheme, which was announced in the pre-budget report as an incentive to install greener heating.
Energy firms including British Gas and NPower have already pledged to match the payment, creating households a £800 discount on new boilers.
According to the government, a new boiler could cut a family's heating bills by about £235 a year.
In total, the scheme would cut as much carbon as taking 45,000 cars off the road and would help secure about 250,000 jobs of boiler makers and installers, the government said.
To qualify, a household must have a working boiler of the lowest efficiency G rating.
There are about 3.5million homes in England with such boilers, although the scheme is only open to the first 125,000 who apply.
The old devices must be replaced with top efficiency A-rated boilers or renewable heating systems like biomass boilers or heat pumps.
The price of a new boiler is about £2,500, most of which would still be paid by the householder.
Only home owners and landlords who privately rent out homes qualify.
The scheme does not apply to Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, as their devolved authorities have to decide whether to run it.
Is my boiler G-rated?
The Energy Saving Trust said a boiler is likely to be G rated if:
* If it has a permanent pilot light;
* If it is gas fired and over 15 years old; or
* If it is oil fired and over 25 years old.
Householders can also check the Energy Saving Trust's scrappage scheme guide for more information.
How do I apply?
Once you have established that you qualify:
1. Get several quotes for the installation of a new boiler. Suppliers must visit your home for this and give a proper quote on paper.
2. Apply to the Energy Saving Trust (EST) with your name, address, details of your old boiler, the type of new boiler you want, quote prices, supplier details and confirmation that the installer visited your home.
3. You will then recieve a cashback voucher from the EST. Wait until you get this voucher before you start the installation, or you will lose the money.
4. Pay the installer in full.
5. Send the invoice and voucher to the EST, who will then refund you £400.
full article
Up to 125,000 households in England could benefit from the £50million scheme, which was announced in the pre-budget report as an incentive to install greener heating.
Energy firms including British Gas and NPower have already pledged to match the payment, creating households a £800 discount on new boilers.
According to the government, a new boiler could cut a family's heating bills by about £235 a year.
In total, the scheme would cut as much carbon as taking 45,000 cars off the road and would help secure about 250,000 jobs of boiler makers and installers, the government said.
To qualify, a household must have a working boiler of the lowest efficiency G rating.
There are about 3.5million homes in England with such boilers, although the scheme is only open to the first 125,000 who apply.
The old devices must be replaced with top efficiency A-rated boilers or renewable heating systems like biomass boilers or heat pumps.
The price of a new boiler is about £2,500, most of which would still be paid by the householder.
Only home owners and landlords who privately rent out homes qualify.
The scheme does not apply to Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, as their devolved authorities have to decide whether to run it.
Is my boiler G-rated?
The Energy Saving Trust said a boiler is likely to be G rated if:
* If it has a permanent pilot light;
* If it is gas fired and over 15 years old; or
* If it is oil fired and over 25 years old.
Householders can also check the Energy Saving Trust's scrappage scheme guide for more information.
How do I apply?
Once you have established that you qualify:
1. Get several quotes for the installation of a new boiler. Suppliers must visit your home for this and give a proper quote on paper.
2. Apply to the Energy Saving Trust (EST) with your name, address, details of your old boiler, the type of new boiler you want, quote prices, supplier details and confirmation that the installer visited your home.
3. You will then recieve a cashback voucher from the EST. Wait until you get this voucher before you start the installation, or you will lose the money.
4. Pay the installer in full.
5. Send the invoice and voucher to the EST, who will then refund you £400.
full article
Saturday 2 January 2010
Precious metals that could save the planet
Baotou was of little interest to the outside world for millennia. When one of the first visitors reached its walls in 1925, it was described as "a little husk of a town in a great hollow shell of mud ramparts". Some 84 years later, this once barren outpost of Inner Mongolia has been transformed into the powerhouse of China's dominance of the market in some of the globe's most sought-after minerals.
As a result, Baotou has rapidly become of great interest to the outside world. China, which by accident of geography holds about 50 per of the world's rare earth deposits and currently produces 97 per of global supplies, has made no secret of the nature or scale of its ambitions, summarised by former premier Deng Xiaoping when he said: "The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths."
In 1999, President Jiang Zemin went further on a visit to Baotou when he summed up Beijing's strategy as being "to improve the development and applications of rare earth, and change the resource advantage into economic superiority".
In the intervening decade, demand for rare earth elements (REEs) has ballooned from 40,000 tonnes to a predicted 200,000 tonnes by 2014. The reason is that the particular properties of luminescence, magnetism and conductivity of rare earths have been increasingly harnessed by scientists to create a vast gamut of technologies from fibre-optic cables to advanced X-ray machines; flat television screens to the movable fins on guided missiles; and filters for viruses to navigation systems.
Above all, they are an integral part of the technologies that politicians are relying on to try to avert the worst effects of global warming. From the generators of wind turbines to catalytic converters, and the batteries on hybrid cars to alloys that dramatically reduce leakage from overhead power cables, rare earths are at the heart of the green revolution.
As one senior delegate at a recent international conference on REEs put it: "There is hardly a day that goes by that a new application for rare earths isn't found in Baotou; they are almost entirely related to low-carbon tech. Ironic isn't it? The world's greatest polluter by volume is in pole position when it comes to the raw materials to save us from global warming."
The result is that the rare earth industry in China is rapidly moving from a role as a provider of rare earth extracts for export, worth a few hundred million dollars a year to Chinese GDP, to a producer of finished REE components worth billions. In response to Chinese reductions in exports, global manufacturers are forced to move factories making rare-earth rich components to China to ensure continued production.
*Cerium (Ce) – catalytic converters for diesel engines
*Praseodymium (Pr) – an alloying agent for aircraft engines
*Neodymium (Nd) – a key component of high-efficiency magnets and hard disc drives
*Lanthanum (La) – a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries
*Samarium (Sm) – lasers and nuclear reactor safety
*Promethium (Pm) – portable X-rays and a nuclear battery
*Gadolinium (Gd) – shielding for nuclear reactors, compact discs
*Dysprosium (Dy) – improves the efficiency of hybrid vehicle motors
*Terbium (Tb) – a component in low-energy light bulbs
*Erbium (Er) – fibre optics
*Europium (Eu) – used in flat screen displays and lasers
*Holmium (Ho) – nuclear control rods, ultra-powerful magnets
*Thulium (Tm) – lasers, portable X-rays
*Ytterbium (Yb) – monitoring equipment for earthquakes
*Lutetium (Lu) – oil refining
full article
As a result, Baotou has rapidly become of great interest to the outside world. China, which by accident of geography holds about 50 per of the world's rare earth deposits and currently produces 97 per of global supplies, has made no secret of the nature or scale of its ambitions, summarised by former premier Deng Xiaoping when he said: "The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths."
In 1999, President Jiang Zemin went further on a visit to Baotou when he summed up Beijing's strategy as being "to improve the development and applications of rare earth, and change the resource advantage into economic superiority".
In the intervening decade, demand for rare earth elements (REEs) has ballooned from 40,000 tonnes to a predicted 200,000 tonnes by 2014. The reason is that the particular properties of luminescence, magnetism and conductivity of rare earths have been increasingly harnessed by scientists to create a vast gamut of technologies from fibre-optic cables to advanced X-ray machines; flat television screens to the movable fins on guided missiles; and filters for viruses to navigation systems.
Above all, they are an integral part of the technologies that politicians are relying on to try to avert the worst effects of global warming. From the generators of wind turbines to catalytic converters, and the batteries on hybrid cars to alloys that dramatically reduce leakage from overhead power cables, rare earths are at the heart of the green revolution.
As one senior delegate at a recent international conference on REEs put it: "There is hardly a day that goes by that a new application for rare earths isn't found in Baotou; they are almost entirely related to low-carbon tech. Ironic isn't it? The world's greatest polluter by volume is in pole position when it comes to the raw materials to save us from global warming."
The result is that the rare earth industry in China is rapidly moving from a role as a provider of rare earth extracts for export, worth a few hundred million dollars a year to Chinese GDP, to a producer of finished REE components worth billions. In response to Chinese reductions in exports, global manufacturers are forced to move factories making rare-earth rich components to China to ensure continued production.
*Cerium (Ce) – catalytic converters for diesel engines
*Praseodymium (Pr) – an alloying agent for aircraft engines
*Neodymium (Nd) – a key component of high-efficiency magnets and hard disc drives
*Lanthanum (La) – a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries
*Samarium (Sm) – lasers and nuclear reactor safety
*Promethium (Pm) – portable X-rays and a nuclear battery
*Gadolinium (Gd) – shielding for nuclear reactors, compact discs
*Dysprosium (Dy) – improves the efficiency of hybrid vehicle motors
*Terbium (Tb) – a component in low-energy light bulbs
*Erbium (Er) – fibre optics
*Europium (Eu) – used in flat screen displays and lasers
*Holmium (Ho) – nuclear control rods, ultra-powerful magnets
*Thulium (Tm) – lasers, portable X-rays
*Ytterbium (Yb) – monitoring equipment for earthquakes
*Lutetium (Lu) – oil refining
full article
Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
Neodymium is one of 17 metals crucial to green technology. There’s only one snag – China produces 97% of the world’s supply. And they’re not selling
Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds.
Failure to secure alternative long-term sources of rare earth elements (REEs) would affect the manufacturing and development of low-carbon technology, which relies on the unique properties of the 17 metals to mass-produce eco-friendly innovations such as wind turbines and low-energy lightbulbs.
China, whose mines account for 97 per cent of global supplies, is trying to ensure that all raw REE materials are processed within its borders. During the past seven years it has reduced by 40 per cent the amount of rare earths available for export.
Once extracted and refined, the rare earth metals can be put to a dizzying range of hi-tech uses. Neodymium, one of the most common rare earths, is a key part of neodymium-iron-boron magnets used in hyper-efficient motors and generators. Around two tonnes of neodymium are needed for each wind turbine. Lanthanum, another REE, is a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries (each Prius uses up to 15kg), while terbium is vital for low-energy light bulbs and cerium is used in catalytic converters.
full article
Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds.
Failure to secure alternative long-term sources of rare earth elements (REEs) would affect the manufacturing and development of low-carbon technology, which relies on the unique properties of the 17 metals to mass-produce eco-friendly innovations such as wind turbines and low-energy lightbulbs.
China, whose mines account for 97 per cent of global supplies, is trying to ensure that all raw REE materials are processed within its borders. During the past seven years it has reduced by 40 per cent the amount of rare earths available for export.
Once extracted and refined, the rare earth metals can be put to a dizzying range of hi-tech uses. Neodymium, one of the most common rare earths, is a key part of neodymium-iron-boron magnets used in hyper-efficient motors and generators. Around two tonnes of neodymium are needed for each wind turbine. Lanthanum, another REE, is a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries (each Prius uses up to 15kg), while terbium is vital for low-energy light bulbs and cerium is used in catalytic converters.
full article
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