Calor, a supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is encouraging nursing and care homes to be mindful of boiler maintenance following a report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, highlighting the impact of poor indoor air quality.
The report, which has been welcomed by the Building Engineering Services Association, raises concerns about indoor air pollution from products including faulty boilers and heaters, with elderly and vulnerable individuals being particularly at risk.
With the report claiming that poor indoor air quality could have potentially caused 99,000 deaths across Europe in the past year, Calor is calling on care home managers to check the reliability and efficient operation of heating appliances and devices.
Gregor Dalgleish, commercial sales manager at Calor, explains: “Given care home residents spend a lot of time inside, indoor air quality should be a top priority for the care industry, particularly following this report.
“Managers must ensure residents are not exposed to any potentially harmful emissions. Routine boiler maintenance, by a qualified engineer, will help ensure that the heating and hot water system is operating reliably and safely and we therefore recommend implementing a scheduled service programme to ensure any issues are addressed early on.
“For sites based off the mains gas grid, boilers fuelled by LPG score highly against heating oil. Indeed, in terms of carbon emissions, LPG offers 20 per cent less CO2 per kWh than oil and emits fewer harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) than oil, kerosene and coal fired heating systems.
"For those looking to upgrade to a cleaner fuel, or looking to replace an old or inefficient boiler, LPG delivers an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternative.
“With care homes housing elderly or vulnerable individuals, taking simple, low cost steps now to improve indoor air quality could make a dramatic difference to delivering a warm and safe environment in the long term.”
