Baxi has received the Green Innovation Award earlier this month for the Baxi Ecogen micro-CHP, or micro-Combined Heat and Power, system.

The Award was presented on behalf of Sustainability Now as part of a virtual event, designed to be a cost-effective and low-carbon affair. The Ecogen fought off eight other innovative products up for the award which were all recognised as technologies that could make a difference and help the construction sector meet its sustainability goal.

But Baxi was handed the coveted award ahead of the competition with professionals from architecture, engineering, quantity surveying, project management and construction sectors all attending the online exhibition.

The Ecogen looks and operates very similarly to a conventional boiler. The only difference is the Ecogen uses a special Stirling engine which works in a similar way to a car generator – when the engine gas burner is ignited the heat causes helium inside the engine to expand which then pushed a piston up and down between a copper coil to generate up to 1kW of electricity.

This electricity produced can then be used to power home appliances, with it being most efficient when it uses electricity as it is generated – for example using a dishwasher in the evenings when the heating is on and the boiler is operating.

The Baxi Ecogen micro-CHP can be installed as a direct replacement for your old boiler, can be located in the same place and it even qualifies for the Clean Energy Cashback Scheme otherwise known as the feed-in tariff.

Sarah Brook, Marketing Director for Baxi Group, represented the firm at the virtual exhibition and conference. She said: “We are delighted to have received this prestigious accolade, especially in the face of such tough competition.

“We are convinced that micro-CHP is set to make a huge impact on the domestic heating industry, and are very proud of Baxi Ecogen, the first wall-hung micro-CHP appliance available on the market which can be specified by local authorities, housing associations and private developers.

“It will help them meet Level 3 of the Code of Sustainable Homes, tackle fuel poverty issues more effectively and significantly cut carbon emissions. Developed and manufactured in the UK, Baxi Ecogen is a unique, world-class technology for the 21^st Century home.”

Fuel poverty has been around for a long time, although it is only within the past couple of years the issue has become a truly nationwide problem.

Higher energy bills coupled with colder winters have ensured many households throughout the UK have experienced some degree of fuel poverty and the recession has also played its part in creating financial difficulties for energy consumers more generally.

Unfortunately, fuel poverty is not a problem that can be easily solved, as it is expected that average fuel bills will rise further in the near future; furthermore, energy-saving measures such as replacing older boilers for newer, more energy-efficient central heating systems require an initial outlay, which households affected by fuel poverty may not be able to afford.

A couple in Sunderland, however, has been able to benefit from an upgraded boiler through funding provided by Baxi and Eaga plc. This funding allowed National Energy Action (NEA), a charity commissioned to tackle fuel poverty, to install a high efficiency Baxi Bermuda fire and back boiler unit in the pensioners’ North East home.

The move has already produced startling results, with the pensioners, who are in their 60s, reporting a massive 34.8% saving on their winter gas bills. Previously, the couple’s fuel bills topped a staggering £1,500 per year, so cutting this amount by over a third ought to be seen as a huge success.

It was because of the pensioners’ expensive annual fuel bill they were selected for the trial, which is currently evaluating the impact of upgraded boilers and will most likely be extended to others across the country.

A household is considered to be in fuel poverty if it spends 10% or more of its income on domestic energy costs. Replacing old boilers can be an expensive task, even with the help of Government incentives.

In the present case, the couple’s existing boiler was over 25 years old and around 60% less efficient than the Baxi Bermuda BBU HE. NEA Technical Officer, Adam Jones, explained that the couple’s bill for December to April 2008-2009 was £337.15, but only £220 for the same period plus three weeks in 2009-2010 after the installation.

The technological development of central heating systems has become prominent recently as the need for more energy efficient homes has been realised by politicians and homeowners.

Not only is a more energy efficient new boiler beneficial to the environment, which in turn helps the Government meet its energy targets, it is more cost effective; simply put, upgrading from an old E-rated boiler to a new A-rated boiler can shave around £200-£250 off the average household energy bill, which is significant in this age of continued economic uncertainty. Naturally, an upgraded gas boiler will only make a difference so far as gas bills are concerned, which is why Baxi, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of heating systems, has devised a new concept in home heating: the Baxi Ecogen.

The Baxi Ecogen is unlike any other gas boiler on the market because it is not just a gas boiler. The Baxi Ecogen is a wall-hung gas boiler that also generates electricity for use in the home, thereby making it a dual energy heating and power system. The process of generating both electricity and heat from the same source within close proximity to where such energy is to be consumed is known as micro-combined heat and power or micro-CHP. The Baxi Ecogen employs state-of-the-art micro-CHP technology to provide efficient heating and hot water in addition to cost effective, low carbon electricity.

Combined heat and power (CHP) systems have been used for many years on a larger scale, such as in hospitals and schools. Baxi has taken CHP technology to develop micro-CHP systems for use in domestic environments, which could mark something of a revolution in environmentally friendly home heating and energy generation. Households using the Baxi Ecogen will require less electricity from the national grid, not only saving money but also reduces their carbon footprint; standard electrical consumption can also be reduced by using the Baxi Ecogen alongside solar hot water heating installations. Crucially, the Baxi Ecogen is estimated to reduce average annual bills by up to £600 and the dual system can generate 1kW of electricity, which is enough to power various appliances, including washing machines, computers and televisions.

Trading since 1935, Baxi are seen as one of the market leaders with their dedication to innovation and development in the heating industry. Baxi boast a range of Combi, Heat Only, System and Back boiler systems. Most notably though would be their efforts with regards to the environment with an exciting range of Biomass solid fuel boilers which use pellets and wood.

With over 90% energy efficiency and a SEDBUK (Government energy efficiency system) grading of ‘A’, the majority of the Baxi boiler range are seen as attractive where the reduction of consumer bills are concerned particularly with their Heat Only boilers. The Baxi Solo HE remains to be the only single Heat Only boiler manufactured by Baxi and comes with a free 2 year manufacture warranty.

Baxi’s range of Combi boilers have also received acclaim with the Duo-tec Combi HE, winning the ‘Which?’ magazine best buy out of 34 boilers tested. The Duo Tec Combi comes with an attractive 2 year parts AND labour warranty. The most expensive Baxi Combi boiler is the Platinum Combi HE which comes with a five year warranty. At the other end of the scale is the Combi 105 which comes in at a lower retail price and a SEDBUK grade B to match.

Baxi also boast fitting their Bermuda range of back boilers in 9 out of 10 homes nationally. Despite not being the most poplar method of central heating, Baxi have sold over five million since production of the Bermuda range began.

British Gas partnered with Ceres Power back in 2005 and have been busy developing a fuel cell boiler, also known as a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) boiler which will not only heat your home but also generates electricity.

Conventional boilers convert gas into heat by burning it, the CHP unit works in a very different way by passing natural gas though a fuel cell which creates heat and electricity via a chemical process. The technology is not new but it’ll be the first time it’s to be used on large scale in UK domestic households.

British Gas is currently testing the unit in 30 UK homes and predicts the unit to be commercially available by 2010. Baxi may beat British Gas to it after recently launching their Ecogen CHP boiler which should be available early next year.

The new fuel cell CHP boilers have the potential of producing more electricity than required which could provide an opportunity for householders to sell the electricity back to British Gas. Smart Planet put this question to British Gas which said they had not yet decided if they would buy back unused energy.

British Gas are estimating that average annual savings could be as much as a quarter off a household gas and electricity bill using a modern high efficiency condensing boiler. The price of the new boiler has not yet been decided but will apparently be only slightly more than a modern condensing boiler with a payback of around 5 years.

Consumer website Which? has voted the Baxi Duo-tec Combi 28 HE condensing boiler as it’s best buy in the the boiler category. It was awarded a 5 star rating for it’s efficiency, features, NOx emissions and ease of installation. Which? rigorously tested 34 boilers for efficiency, ease of use and durability. Efficiency testing closely monitors gas and electricity consumption and how much gas each boiler converts into useable heat. In addition to this every boiler was rated by a Corgi engineer on ease-of-use, installation and servicing.

Which? commented…

” It’s one of the few boilers we’ve tested which reaches the very highest efficiency standards, matching its claims to meet the A Sedbuk standard. As well as offering excellent efficiency, this boiler is also reassuringly easy to use.”

Other boilers that were rated highly include…

• Potterton Gold C24 HE (combi condensing boiler)
• Vaillant ecoTEC plus 824 (combination condensing boiler)
• Vaillant ecoTEC plus 831 (combination condensing boiler)