The British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA) says more than 100,000 non-compliant pumps are being sold in the UK every year.

Furthermore, non-compliant pumps are being manufactured to look like genuine OEM pumps, and are reportedly sometimes even come with bogus CE markings ...which some say stand for China Export rather than Conformité Européenne.

Lee Tebbatt, managing director at Wilo UK and incoming vice president of the BPMA, said: “We’re seeing pumps that are illegal in terms of their energy efficiency being disguised with fake CE markings. The installer won’t know that they are buying a fake pump over the counter and the consumer won’t know that it’s being fitted.”

He added: “The stand-alone market, where a non-condensing boiler is being used with a hot water cylinder and header tank, is the target for non-compliant pumps. Typically, this market is circa one million units per year.”

BPMA chief executive Steve Schofield said: “We estimate that circa 10% of the one million central heating pumps, technically known as circulators, being brought into the UK are non-compliant. It is a swarm; it is blatant and it is now over-the-counter. Once fitted, they are costing consumers hundreds of pounds every year on their heating bills, and it is seriously impacting the UK’s ability to meet its net zero obligations.”