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Condensing Combi boiler price drop
QUESTION:I have heard a rumour that in 2005 new government regs will insit that new
boilers being installed be even more efficient. And that this in turn will
lead to a price drop. Has anyone else head of this?
ANSWER: There is a note on the ODPM Building Regulations web site that the
government ould like to see the bar raised on minimum SEDBUK
efficiency from 78% to 86% this year. One issue would be the
timescale that the changes to the legislation or schedule to it could
be changed.
The implication would be that non-condensing boilers would then
disappear from the market. Thus manufacturers would be in a
situation where their entire production would have to be of condensing
type. They would of course be competing for the same market space
and would want to maintain market share.
Up until now, condensing boilers have commanded a small to substantial
price premium partly because there is a small incremental material
cost, there is a recovery of development cost and because the market
will stand a price premium.
I suspect that there would be a range of low end boilers built to a
price point that would replace the current low end and mid range
conventional models. I don't see a reason why manufacturers would
drop the price on their premium products unless they see a market
shift that reduces their volume on those.
Since a lot of people buy on price, I think that the more likely
scenario is that manufacturers would introduce very basic condensing
products to fill the price gap, or bomb the prices on existing models
and introduce new ones at the higher price points with new features
and/or quality.
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