Should I have a heat pump fitted this year?
The government offers people up to £7,500 off the price of installing a heat pump, but despite this take-up has been low.
With energy bills rising yet again this month, and climate change doom dominating the headlines again, is 2024 the year to finally get rid of your gas boiler?
Despite rolling back the deadline to hit net zero, Rishi Sunak is still offering funding to fit energy efficient heat pumps into private homes - even if his party doesn’t agree. But will it actually help cut your bills? Hannah Fearn finds out.
Why are heat pumps so controversial? The government is banking on homeowners and landlords replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, which are run on electricity, as a big part of its plan to reach net zero. But consumers aren’t convinced. Take-up has been slow, and now Rishi Sunak is facing a rebellion from backbench MPs who don’t trust the technology.
Is the government still paying for installation? Yes, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers grants of up to £7,500 towards fitting a heat pump, as well as smaller discounts on other technologies such as biomass gas boilers. But the rebels want the prime minister to scrap the scheme.
How many heat pumps are already in? The Conservative government has set a target of 600,000 installations per year by 2028, but according to its own official figures only 72,000 were installed in 2022 - 10 times lower than the installation rate in neighbouring France. At the end of September 2023, there were just 412 heat pumps per 100,000 people in the UK.
Because all our homes are old and drafty? Actually, no. New research published by Nesta this week found that heat pumps work efficiently in all types of housing, even if it is poorly insulated. The design of the system and the size of radiators was far more important in the success of a heat pump than the type of building it is installed in.
Should I still improve my insulation anyway? There’s no need. In fact, if you want to go green, installing a heat pump reduces more carbon emissions than insulation. Nesta’s latest report also found that spending on insulation work is not always cost effective. So a heat pump, especially with a government-funded installation grant, is a better choice.
Would it cut my bills? That depends. At the moment heat pumps, which run on electricity, and a traditional gas boiler cost about the same to run - but that is because electricity prices are so high. But a well installed system cuts energy usage.
Can’t the government do something about that? Campaigners for more heat pumps say they should. Richard Lowes, at RAP, an NGO advocating for clean energy, told Yahoo News UK: “The government has put lots of levies and taxes on electricity but gas has no taxes on it at all, so gas is cheaper than it should be and electricity is more expensive. Any government that cares about climate change has got to make electricity cheaper. Currently you can make small savings [with a heat pump] but it’s not huge.”
How efficient are heat pumps? Very. Research by the Energy Systems Catapult, an arm’s length body set up to push progress towards net zero, found that most heat pumps are at least three times as efficient as gas boilers. But other studies suggest the potential is even greater. Heat Geek, which advises the energy industry, has found that four and a half times the efficiency of a gas boiler can be achieved when heat pumps are properly installed by experts.
So some installers are doing it badly? Yes, and the government is aware of that. According to Jan Rosenow, a board member of the Coalition for Energy Savings, the UK government has allocated money towards improving training and building a bigger base of installers. “Clearly the data shows that there is the potential to be better when you look at the figures,” he told Yahoo News UK. “The main factor is the training and knowledge of the person who does the installation.”
What do people who already have a heat pump say? Overall they are very happy. A study into attitudes by Nesta published last year found satisfaction rates for heat pump users in Victorian or older properties were 83 per cent.
When should I get one installed? According to Rosenow, it makes the most financial sense to take the leap in 2024 if your existing heating system is coming to the end of its functional life. “If you’ve just bought [a gas boiler] last year it’s financially less attractive to look at a heat pump, but if your boiler is just about to break down and you’re about to replace it anyway I would suggest to take a careful look.”
