Throughout Europe, boilers are the most popular appliance for providing central heating and hot water in the home.

Depending on what fuel is available in the home, boilers can run on natural gas, liquid gas, oil or electricity.

Boilers can be wall hung or floor standing. Wall hung boilers are more popular because they take up less space than floor standing boilers. However, traditionally, floor standing boilers have a higher output and are especially suitable for larger properties.

Types of boiler:

Open vent boilers - Sometimes known as heat only boilers, provide central heating and hot water using a boiler, a hot water storage cylinder housed in an airing cupboard and water tanks in the loft.

Combination boilers - Combination boilers or combis, provide central heating and instant hot water so they do not need a separate water storage cylinder.

System boilers - System boilers are often referred to as sealed system boilers. They provide central heating and hot water via a storage cylinder housed in an airing cupboard. However, there is no need for water tanks in the loft, as with an open vent boiler.

Some boilers have an integral hot water storage tank. These combination-store, or combi store, boilers are usually floor standing.

Boilers can be either conventional or condensing.

The term condensing, or high efficiency, means the boiler recovers more heat from the amount of oil or gas that is burnt, making it more efficient than conventional boilers. By recovering and using heat that would otherwise be lost up the flue, the best condensing boilers are more than 90% efficient. Although condensing boilers cost more initially, they are very economical to use, and can pay back the initial extra cost in fuel savings. Condensing boilers also have lower emissions of toxic gasses making them much better for the environment. - Description added by: Baxi

Renewable and alternative energy sources are set to play an increasingly important role in providing the electricity, heat, cooling and fuels that society needs. There is a wide range of energy sources such as solar (both photovoltaic and solar thermal), wind, bio-fuels and biomass, hydro-electric, geothermal and heat pumps. - Description added by: David Lockie

Heating and cooling are typically extremely energy intensive technologies. In the United Kingdom the majority of heating in our homes and buildings is provided by burning natural gas. Renewable energy technologies such as solar heating, or heat pumps provide a sustainable low carbon alternative. Condensing boilers, and combined heat and power (CHP) also offer significant energy savings. In this circumstance energy that would have otherwise been wasted (which happens in traditional power plants) is instead used by the local community via a district heating scheme. Alternatively, a micro CHP system (such as a residential fuel cell, or Stirling engine) produces both electricity and heat to serve a local heat demand i.e. for a particular building. Energy efficiency technologies such as low carbon ventilation solutions can reduce the energy demands of buildings. - Description added by: David Lockie

Communities consist of homes, businesses and sometimes industrial concerns, with infrastructure like health care, transport, communications, government and utilities. Many decisions about low carbon need to be considered at the community level in order to ensure that ‘joined-up thinking’ is applied to the process. Click the picture to the right to explore our interactive community environment. - Description added by: David Lockie