Plenty of life left in the domestic oil heating industry

EOGB’s Sapphire ultra low NOx burner is a real glimpse into the future of oil fired heating.

Aside from looking to meet pending low NOx legislation, UK manufacturers have a duty of care towards the world we live in to make sure we have a future in the heating industry.

Aside from oil condensing boilers in which significant advancements were made several years ago, oil fired equipment hasn’t seen a great deal of progression. When we look at gas boilers we can clearly see the improvements made within the past 15 years and, although oil combustion has its own inherent limitations compared to burning of natural gas, it doesn’t mean the oil industry has to surrender and state that oil heating has gone as far as it can and is not worth any further investment.

With over 4 million homes in the UK that are not on the mains gas it’s reasonable to say that this is still a very healthy market and there is justification for future investment. Limitations are only put in place by manufacturers who don’t want to change and state that improvements are not practical, attempting to sway the industry into submission. However, the danger here is that oil heating could then be legislated out of the heating industry.

At EOGB we are always looking at how we can improve what we already have and we have made some major developments into low NOx technology and modulating burners on kerosene.

The initial issue was that a control system didn’t really exist that was suitable for our needs, so we designed a totally new concept. The Sapphire modulating system, complete with digital touchscreen control, is extremely flexible and allows us to set up to 15 points of modulation as well as gain total control over fan and oil pump pressure. The unique high pressure spin system gives excellent combustion and allows the burner to operate at much lower excess air than we would have ever contemplated on older yellow flame combustion heads. So, with the large modulating range and the possibilities of operating with reduced excess air, boiler efficiency and burner combustion efficiency are both greatly improved.

The oil heating industry is still full of potential, and we’re pleased to be at the forefront of new innovation.