EPCs based on RdSAP - Evohome

[paulockenden]

I have been led to believe that as Evohome has not been assessed by BRE, then it will have been assessed as single thermostat and no zoning despite its published ErP rating of +5% efficiency (Class 8 device).
WG - Correct, the Honeywell Evohome has not been submitted to the PCDB by the manufacturer.

Nice little stitched-up cartel they appear to be running.

So much for harmonised standards across the EU. (Yes, I know we're supposed to be leaving, but we haven't yet).

P.

[HenGus]

Nice little stitched-up cartel they appear to be running.

So much for harmonised standards across the EU. (Yes, I know we're supposed to be leaving, but we haven't yet).

P.

This gets better and better. I have just received a further response from BRE:


Quote: The UK government doesn't utilise the compensating control credits defined within Ecodesign regulations as part of Building Regulation minimum standards. The recent Future of Heat (Boiler Plus) consultation undertaken by BEIS confirmed a new minimum boiler efficiency standard for replacement boilers in England (only) - launched in April. It didn't make reference to Ecodesign control class definitions or their associated efficiency credits. Unquote

So we have UK Statute Law that requires manufacturers to certify their products to an ErP rating which installers use to produce a total system ErP rating for the boiler and its controls, which Building Regulations ignore with Government approval because - it would seem - that BRE isn’t convinced that heating controls offer any real heating efficiency benefits.

Having just exchanged contracts on a new property with a WB boiler and 2 zone heating with standard TRVs, I am not sure what to think about future heating automation.

[HenGus]

I seem to have rattled a cage at BRE. My new friend is now suggesting that BRE is ahead of the EcoDesign Regulations but there are questions relating to Government policy that he cannot answer. He suggests that this briefing note is worth a read:

https://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/SAP/2016/CONSP-02---Seasonal-efficiency-of-condensing-boilers---V1.1.pdf

Page 47 refers to Class 8 devices which apparently only have the efficiency savings of Class 5!

Edit: Having now plodded my way through the draft consultation for SAP2016 (yet to be issued), it would seem that BRE has concluded that Class VIII devices such as Evohome operating at flow temperatures of 80/60 or 70/60 will attract an efficiency saving of 0.7% not the 5% claimed by ErP certification.

[paulockenden]

It all seems too lab-based and theoretical to me. When I originally had Evohome installed my annual gas bills went down by around 20%.

Can't beat a real-world test like this. Better than highfalutin papers from research bodies.

P.

[HenGus]

It all seems too lab-based and theoretical to me. When I originally had Evohome installed my annual gas bills went down by around 20%.

Can't beat a real-world test like this. Better than highfalutin papers from research bodies.

P.

Possibly, but it doesn’t get around the fact that the Government may be complicit in a potential mis-selling scandal. The EcoDesign Regulations are now enshrined in UK Law which require manufacturers to certify their products to an ErP class. Installers are required to use this information to produce an ErP efficiency label for a new boiler and controls. At the moment, the EPC assessment process treats Evohome as a single thermostat with no zoning (less than a two zoned home with standard TRVs).

When SAP2016 is introduced, then Evohome will be treated the same as an ErP Class V device with a 0.7% efficiency benefit rather than the 5% claimed under European-wide ErP certification.

Evohome - 20%, 5% or 0.7% efficiency benefit - take your pick.

[paulockenden]

the Government may be complicit in a.....

You really think the government has the faintest clue about any of this stuff? (Or indeed anything else, right now).

It's all farmed out to 'expert bodies', and they just spend their time creating reports that justify their own existence.

P.

[G4RHL]

You really think the government has the faintest clue about any of this stuff? (Or indeed anything else, right now).

It's all farmed out to 'expert bodies', and they just spend their time creating reports that justify their own existence.

P.

They call them consultants. They are the people who use your watch to tell you the time. The public sector seems to love them.