A Mitsubishi heat pump (Image: Getty)
Half of UK homeowners want “green” low-carbon heating – but new research reveals most of us admit not knowing enough about them to make an informed choice.
The UK aims to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, to help combat climate change with an ambitious target of installing 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028 – yet 2023 saw annual sales of 60,000 in the UK.
Now a new study from manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric has found despite 49% of UK consumers being eager for low-carbon heating, they also crave a understanding of the technology and its benefits.
While 73% of UK admit not knowing enough about them to make an informed decision about installing one.
Now experts and manufacturers want to spread the message that heat pumps – which work in Scandinavian counties where outside temperature can plummet to -20C – can efficiently heat any UK home from the South Coast to the Shetlands.
A Mitsubishi heat pump in situ (Image: Mitsubishi Electric)
Charlotte Lee, chief executive of the Heat Pump Association, said: “The way we heat our buildings accounts for a third of carbon emissions in the UK.
“So encouraging the adoption of renewable heating alternatives like heat pumps is critical to achieving the challenging legal targets ahead of us.
“Yet barriers to moving from early to widespread adoption of heat pumps remain.
“These include a lack of awareness and acceptance of renewable options amongst consumers, the relative price of electricity and gas and the provision of long-term policy certainty from the government which would provide the sector with confidence to invest.
“These barriers must be addressed if we want to see an accelerated deployment of heat pumps in people’s homes and businesses, in the coming years.”
Charlotte Lee of the Heat Pump Association (Image: Mitsubishi Electric)
A fifth of homeowners quizzed believed gas boilers the most sustainable heating option and just 25 per cent thought heat pumps the most environmentally friendly alternative.
The Mitsubishi Electric study found just 4 per cent of homeowners use an air-source heat pump in their homes and 7 per cent are willing to pay £6,000-7,000 for a heat pump – which is the lower end of heat pump installation costs, without any additional Government grant.
It concluded that greater financial support would be the number one motivator for consumers to switch to a heat pump, with 44 per cent of us wanting a funding grant to cover the cost of installing a new system in their building.
This has already led to increasing demand for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with applications more than doubling in April this year compared to the same month in 2023 since grants increased from £5,000 to £7,500,.
In the recent Autumn Budget, £3.4bn was allocated to heat decarbonisation, including the Warm Homes Plan and further funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to keep up with consumer demand.
Russell Dean, Deputy Divisional Manager, Living Environment Systems at Mitsubishi Electric (Image: Mitsubishi Electric)
Economists claim another way to lower costs and boost heat pump uptake would be decoupling the cost of electricity from gas.
The cost of electricity – including that sourced from solar, wind or wave power – tracks the cost of gas because gas generation historically sets the marginal wholesale power price.
But if electricity prices were lower and heat pumps were cheaper to run, nearly half (44 per cent) of UK homeowners say they would either consider or immediately switch to a heat pump.
Dr Ed Manderson, Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester’s Department of Economics, found during the cost-of-living natural gas price spike of 2021-23, decoupling the price of renewable-generated green electricity from traditional natural gas prices would have resulted in substantial annual savings for both households and businesses.
The average household would have saved at least £131 on their energy bill in 2022 – while businesses could have saved at least £2,426.
Electricity producers argue that decoupling the price of cheap renewable electricity from that of gas-fired power generation – so making green energy cheap – would discourage power companies from investing in the clean technology.
Chris Newman, Zero Carbon Design Manager Mitsubishi Electric and Dr Ed Manderson Senior Lecturer in (Image: Mitsubishi Electric)
Russell Dean, Deputy Divisional Manager, Living Environment Systems at Mitsubishi Electric, said, “It is evident that the cost of running a heat pump is one of the biggest barriers to increased uptake in the UK, because of the price of electricity in comparison to gas.
“It’s been encouraging to see homeowners receive government schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme well.
“But we also need both the public and private sectors to continue to raise awareness of the benefits of heat pumps and to keep equipping installers with the skills to advise consumers on heat pumps as an option for home heating to see uptake continue to rise.”
Last month Government advisers said UK greenhouse gas emissions should be cut by at least 81 per cent by 2035 as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.
The Government is set to unveil plans for cutting emissions by 2035, under the global Paris Agreement which commits countries to take action on curbing temperature rises to prevent the worst impacts of warming.
The Paris Agreement commits countries to keeping temperature rises “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, and pursuing efforts to limit them to 1.5C.
To meet the 1.5C target, the world’s carbon emissions must fall to net zero by 2050, with significant cuts in pollution and emissions offset by planting trees or carbon capture.
Daily Express’s Chris Riches quizzes Heat Pump Association (Image: Mitsubishi Electric)
The UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has recommended the UK commit to cutting emissions by at least 81 per cent on 1990 levels by the middle of the 2030s.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, the independent advisory committee said the target is “ambitious” and “deliverable”.
CCC chair Professor Piers Forster said: “With climate damages already felt around the world, targeting an 81% emissions reduction by 2035 sets the right level of ambition.
“The technologies needed to achieve it are available, at a competitive price, today.”
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Britain is back in the business of climate leadership because the only way to protect current generations in the UK is by making Britain a clean energy superpower.
“And the only way to protect our children and future generations is by leading global climate action.”
EXCLUSIVE COMMENT – Charlotte Lee, chief executive of the Heat Pump Association
Charlotte Lee, chief executive of the Heat Pump Association (Image: HPA)
“To meet the UK’s legally binding Carbon Emission Reduction Targets by 2050 it is essential that buildings are decarbonised.
“In 2023, the heating of buildings in the UK accounted for around 17 per cent of the country’s total carbon emissions.
“It’s imperative that the Government swiftly demonstrates, through action, its commitment to reducing the UK’s carbon emissions from buildings as the UK’s 29 million homes will need to replace fossil fuel heating system with low carbon heating.
“Heat pumps are a proven, efficient and scalable technology that drastically reduce carbon emissions from heating, yet 2023 saw annual sales of 60,244 heat pumps in the UK.
“An estimated minimum ten-fold increase in heat pump installations is needed to support the UK in meeting its legally binding 2030 interim carbon emission reduction commitments.
“To support this acceleration consumer demand needs to be unlocked. Crucial to this is to make heat pumps economically viable, as well as environmentally so.
“To do this the electricity and gas price differential needs to be reduced, making the lowest carbon heat the lowest cost heat.
“In addition, the Future Homes Standard must be implemented swiftly, as once introduced, all new homes will be built with lower carbon heating systems, and the gas grid will not be extended.
“Finally, the government must set out a credible, deliverable heat pump deployment pathway with clear milestones that can be monitored and reported on to instil clarity, confidence and encourage investment from the sector and consumers.”
HOW DOES A HEAT PUMP WORK?
A house heat pump (Image: Mitsubishi Electric)
A heat pump runs on electricity instead of gas and works by extracting what heat is outside and transferring it into your home.
As the UK increases its production of green electricity from renewable sources like the wind and sun, it is hoped they will help cut emissions.
An air source heat pump takes heat from the air outside, while a ground source heat pump absorbs warmth from the ground.
In the summer months they can reverse the process to also cool a home or building.
Whatever heat, or energy, they’ve managed to extract from the outside is transferred to the refrigerant chemical inside, which the pump then compresses to increase its temperature.
Once hot enough, it transfers this heat to water flowing through your home.
A residential home will have a large box around a metre-high and wide installed outside the property, with space also needed inside for a heat pump unit and hot water cylinder – around the size of a gas boiler.
A ground source heat pump is more efficient than an air source one but less commonly used, as it needs a deep bore hole, or a horizontal system dug into the ground over a large area.
Heat pumps are known for their high efficiency, with efficiency ratings as high as 300-400 per cent.
This means for every 1 unit of energy used they produce up to 4 times more, helping you enjoy optimal heating and save on your heating bill at the same time.
An air source heat pumps costs more than a gas boiler on average, according to the National Infrastructure Commission, external (NIC).
But costs are coming down all the time and energy companies are offering some heat pumps for £500, with a government grant.
In April 2022, the government launched a five year scheme to offer grants for more environmentally friendly heating for existing homes and non-domestic buildings in England and Wales, and including air, ground and water source heat pumps and biomass boilers.
The grants offer £7,500 off the cost and installation of a heat pump but the property must have an eligible Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), external issued in the last 10 years, and not be a new build.
