CombiSave is pleased to announce that we have signed a deal to be part of the Welsh Government’s Nest warm homes scheme – potentially helping thousands of households to become more energy efficient.

It follows a successful pilot programme at the end of last year when the CombiSave valve was installed in homes in the Newport area.

The Nest scheme is part of the Welsh Government’s work to reduce the number of people who are struggling to keep their homes warm and cope with high utility bills.

It helps to make homes more fuel efficient and offers householders free, impartial advice and support to reduce energy costs.

For those who are eligible it also provides a package of free home energy efficiency improvements, such as a new boiler, central heating or insulation.

CombiSave is recommended by both the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS) and Waterwise, and can be fitted in less than 20 minutes as part of a normal boiler service or repair. It can be installed to most combination boilers and helps people to save money on their energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.

Kenny Maxwell, Sales Manager at Teddington, which manufactures the CombiSave valve, said: “We’re delighted to have this partnership in place. The pilot programme at the end of last year was very positive and we’re looking forward to working with the Welsh Government over the next 12 months and beyond.

“CombiSave can be fitted to most combination boilers and is an effective way to improve overall efficiency – reducing the amount of water that is wasted every time a hot tap is turned on and helping to reduce household bills because the time it takes to heat the water is so much less.”

Since 2011, when the Welsh Government first established Nest, over 85,000 households have benefited from free advice and support, with over 23,700 of those households receiving a range of free home energy efficiency improvements.

Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, said: “This is great news. People are continuing to benefit from the Nest scheme which helps make their homes warmer and more fuel efficient.”

CombiSave works by automatically controlling the flow of water every time a hot tap is turned on, allowing the boiler to heat the water faster and only returning the flow to normal once a usable temperature is reached.

Independent tests by consultants EA Technology have shown that CombiSave can save a two-person household an average of 27,756 litres of water and a little over 600 kWh of gas a year – as well as reducing CO₂ emissions by 130kg.

When converted to current price tariffs this equates to savings of £23.22 a year for gas and £49.40 a year for those on a water meter. The time it takes for water to heat up is also reduced by almost half.