While the extended deadline for the government’s Green Deal voucher scheme is welcome news, it also highlights the need to encourage the adoption of other basic, low cost energy efficiency options to make UK homes warmer and greener, says Kelvin Stevens, managing director of ADEY Professional Heating Solutions.

“The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says it has helped one million homes install measures such as insulation and boilers with Green Deal Home Improvement Fund vouchers, and the extended deadline will help families use the 3,900 vouchers from the scheme’s first phase that are yet to be redeemed.

“It’s sensible of DECC to do everything it can to encourage homeowners to take advantage of its Green Deal scheme, but its success really relies on people choosing to make some big energy efficiency improvements to their homes.

“We feel the government is, therefore, missing a trick and if it were to support the adoption of lower cost technologies such as magnetic filtration, it could deliver significant nationwide energy and cost savings much more quickly and without huge investment.

“DECC recognises the domestic sector as having the second highest energy use, accounting for around 31%. Furthermore, domestic space and water heating is thought to account for a staggering 80% of the sector’s total energy usage. The Energy Savings Trust also believes that boilers account for around 60% of all domestic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in gas-heated homes in the UK.

“By protecting and improving the efficiency of central heating systems, evidence suggests that the widespread adoption of effective magnetic filtration delivers a straightforward and quick win in the reduction of domestic energy use and could have an immediate impact on the government’s carbon reduction targets. For example, installing a MagnaClean filter in just one million of the UK’s 25 million-plus households could save in the region of 225,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. That’s equivalent to removing 72,000 cars from the UK’s roads.

“MagnaClean is also independently proven to save up to six per cent on household energy bills year on year for a typical three-bedroom dwelling. That’s a saving of between £60-£70 a year, but if it’s adopted as part of a holistic best practice approach to heating system maintenance, the savings reaped by having a cleaner, more efficient and well-protected system could be even greater.

“Fortunately, an increasing number of switched on installers, contractors and specifiers are recognising the considerable benefits of best practice magnetic filtration. If DECC was to recognise and support magnetic filtration and ongoing maintenance and central heating system protection measures, it could truly maximise the impact of its energy efficiency policies both in the short and long-term.”