Electric.co.uk reports that domestic gas boilers which have the ability to simultaneously generate electricity and heat have now been unveiled in the UK – and means boilers will now be able to provide a low carbon option to power homes.

Named “micro combined heat and power units”, these boilers look just like ordinary wall hung gas boilers. However, in addition to generating heat for radiators and water, they have been designed to produce electricity as a byproduct – which is consequently a useful byproduct that people will actually be able use.

Traditionally, boilers are highly efficient at generating heat inside a house whereby approximately 90% of the energy in the fuel is converted into useful heat that people can use. But, conventional electricity generation is mostly inefficient, turning only approximately 35% of the energy in the fuel into electricity – because most of it gets wasted as heat in the power station.

However, these new boilers have been designed to create enough electricity for a one bar electric fire as a byproduct of heat generation – which as well as reduces waste also means that about 92% of the total energy in the gas gets converted into heat or electricity.

These micro combined heat and power units will be able to produce between 1,800 and 2,400 Kwh of electricity a year – which is more than half of what a typical gas heated home total demands.

Source: electric.co.uk

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