From eyesore to eye-catching: transforming your home's heating system

Stunning interiors make a gigantic contribution towards transforming a house into a home. But a picturesque home that’s absolutely freezing? That’s best admired through the warm lens of Pinterest! 

As our gas bills and carbon footprints continue to soar to levels beyond Farrow & Ball’s pricing structure, we all need more low-cost heating solutions. But do those solutions have to be ugly? Our partners at Heatable have broken down some options for us...

Click the button below to upgrade your boiler, without the bother. Get £50 off* your next boiler or solar install with code 'MBR50':

Boilers

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A new boiler resides quite far down on the ‘sexy list’ of things to do (narrowly above the plasterer you’ll need to call) when sprucing up your abode. They’re traditionally hauntingly ugly units, often residing in kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms – hot water-delivering poltergeists, if you will. But that’s changing.

Image credit: Heatable

A new, high-efficiency gas boiler is still the most feasible solution for the vast majority of the UK housing stock and Worcester-Bosch are paving the way with carbon-reducing boilers, with a touch of class. 

The Energy Saving Trust predict most UK homes to have a boiler efficiency rating of D. Upgrading to an A-rated boiler would typically save around £305 annually and a little over 2 tonnes of carbon (equivalent to planting 80 trees). 

Their 4,000 & 8,000 ranges offer market-leading tech, reliability and good looks (certainly as far as boilers go). The 8,000 range is even available in both black and white. Unheard of! 

Still rather hide the boiler? No problem, Worcester also offers a mini version – perfect to confine to a cupboard. Prices supplied and fitted can be found through Heatable, here.

Click the button below to upgrade your boiler, without the bother. Get £50 off* your next boiler or solar install with code 'MBR50'

Smart thermostats

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You won’t always need or have the budget for a new boiler. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve the efficiency of your current one. 
A boiler smart thermostat will allow for total control over how hard and when your boiler is working, rather than a binary off and on. As a by product, it will reduce bills by typically up to 20%. Not forgetting aesthetics, most modern smart stats also tend to look cool – none more so than the Google Nest.

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Importantly, smart stats also afford you the luxury of avoiding the modern humiliation of making a physical visit to your boiler…particularly if it’s an ugly one.

Heat pumps

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All the range in the news, with the Government but not yet in UK homes? Why so? There are multiple current barriers for the UK switching to heat pumps: 

-    Substantial outdoor space is required
-    They're pricey (£12,000 - £15,000+)
-    Radiator replacements needed
-    They can run loudly
-    Often ugly

So far, so not good? Fair enough. But again, this is changing. Worcester-Bosch are again in the mix with some less-than-ugly new units being products. It’s Samsung that's really leading the way here with aesthetics, however. Interior design standard, for exterior use.

Image credit: Heatable

If sacrificing your kitchen budget for even the most gorgeous of garden-based fridge-freezer style units is utterly out of the question, a hybrid-heat pump may be the way to best massage your eco-ego.

If you'd like help getting the most from your kitchen book a FREE chat to start your transformation:

Hybrid heat pumps

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Before fully electric cars were released, hybrid models were abundant – acting like a kind of gateway product. The same is true for heat pumps in our bid to offset the country-wide smog we pummel into our lovely blue sky each year.

Image credit: Heatable 

Hybrid heat pumps keep a traditional (high efficiency) combi boiler in place, whilst also having a much smaller mini heat pump unit outside.

They don’t require ripping your house to shreds and will reduce your dependency on gas remarkably, whilst having almost no effect on your life beyond this. We doubt you’d notice the difference.

Downsides? They’re still kind of ugly. They can though, be hidden much more easily (like any other new boiler you would have fitted).

Click the button below to upgrade your boiler, without the bother. Get £50 off* your next boiler or solar install with code 'MBR50'

*Heatable T&Cs: MBR50 unique Heatable discount can be used on any Heatable boiler or solar installation package irrespective of the onsite package offer (inc. cashback). The code cannot be used in conjunction with or in addition to other discount codes, exchanged for or contributed towards other products or services or added as cash value to any listed cashback offerings.