The Best Eco-Friendly Boilers
See our Ethical Boilers Ratings Table to compare brands
Why it is important to buy an eco-friendly boiler
For people living in the UK, central heating is essential during the cold winter months. Unfortunately, our need to stay warm makes up 40% of the UK’s total energy consumption. It is therefore important to heat your home with an eco-friendly boiler.
Although there are many types of boilers, the Boiler Guide states that around 80% of UK homes use gas central heating, so this article will primarily discuss gas boilers. There are other boiler options you may want to consider, such as biomass boilers, electric boilers, and heat pumps, which you can find out more about on the websites of the companies that specialise in them.
Our Ethical Boilers Rating Table gives you all the information you need to choose the best eco-friendly boiler from an ethical brand. All you need to do is look for boiler brands within the green section of The Good Shopping Guide table, which have been awarded the highest score for their overall ethical status.
According to The Guardian, up to two-thirds of the carbon emissions generated within the home come from gas-fired combi boilers. Given the serious impact that greenhouse gases have on climate change and global warming, it is crucial to minimise the carbon footprint of your heating by using an eco-friendly boiler with the best energy efficiency rating.
It’s also important to consider the ethics of the boiler brands you purchase from. Some of the UK’s leading boiler brands have done little to show their commitment to addressing their ethical impact, which is reflected in some companies’ poor environmental reports.
Our research: The ethics of the UK’s leading boiler brands
The Good Shopping Guide’s research into the boiler industry reveals the ethical status of the UK’s leading boiler brands. Given the environmental issues within this industry, we were disappointed with the lack of detailed environmental reports amongst many boiler brands.
Unfortunately, only 42% of boiler brands assessed received a top ethical rating for our Environmental Report research category. The boiler brands who scored the worst were Alpha, Ariston, Biasi, Ferroli, Ideal, Intergas, Johnson & Starley, Keston, Ravenheat and Sime. These boiler brands received no points at all for their environmental report, which indicates that they did not demonstrate a commitment to reducing their impact on the planet.
On the bright side, we were pleased to find that most boiler brands received a top rating under our Public Record Criticisms criteria. A top rating within this category means a brand has not been subject to any criticisms in the public domain relating to ethical issues such as poor environmental practices, corporate corruption, and more. Other than Worcester Bosch, all brands in our ethical comparison ratings table received the best score under this aspect of our research.
Our advice: How to choose the best eco-friendly boiler
Great, so you’ve chosen the most ethical boiler brand. Your next step is to find the most energy efficient boiler within their product ranges. A great way to do this is by looking at a product’s energy efficiency rating. Boiler brands in the UK and the EU must display an energy label on their products, which gives boilers an energy efficiency rating from A to G, with A being the best. Look for products with an A rating, as these will be the most energy efficient.
See our Ethical Boilers Ratings Table to compare brands
The Good Shopping Guide conducts extensive and detailed research on every brand on our Ethical Ratings Tables. We have created articles summarising this exclusive research on brands’ ethics and sustainability policies and practices. Click on a brand name to find out more information about our research into the Environment, Animals and People.
Baxi, Glow-Worm, Intergas, Main, Vaillant, Grant, Ideal, Vokera, Heatrae Sadia, Ravenheat, Sime, Ariston, Keston, Viessmann, Alpha, Biasi, Ferroli, Johnson & Starley and Worcester Bosch.