The Government must urgently make low-carbon heating systems cheaper if it wants to reach its goal of Net Zero emissions by 2050, according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Almost all of the U.K.’s 28 million households must ditch their gas boilers and decarbonise their heating systems for ministers to achieve their goal of Net Zero emissions.
Nearly a fifth (18%) of all U.K. greenhouse gas emissions come from heating the nation’s homes, the vast bulk of it from burning natural gas.
The Government wants to phase out gas boilers by 2035 and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has a target for Britain to be installing 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028, up from just 55,000 in 2021.
But high costs for households mean uptake has so far been slow and the Government is not on track to meet this target.
The PAC report said: “The cost of buying and running heat pumps is a substantial barrier to take-up for most households, at a time when incomes are already stretched.”
An average heat pump costs £11,600, four times more than a gas boiler.
The Government aims to reduce heat pump installation costs by 25 percent by 2025, but so far they have only fallen by six percent since 2021.
The PAC report said: “Costs need to come down much quicker.”
Heat pumps are also more expensive to run than traditional boilers because they use electricity, which costs more than gas, the report said.
The costs are so high that Government grants are likely only being used by rich people.
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Let’s see, Great Britain produces 1% of the 12ppm green house gases’ produced by humans, this is absolutely stupid. WHERE is the energy going to come from for the heat pumps? Pure insanity by people that can’t think or do math and are totally gullible.
Average cost of heat pump? If you want to actually HEAT a house then it’s closer to £25,000 (installed) – – – PLUS the cost of new “compatible” radiators and their installation cost. The NOISE pollution is unbearable and will (very soon) require legislation to install noise abatement structures (£££) around heat pumps.
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John Galt
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Let’s see, Great Britain produces 1% of the 12ppm green house gases’ produced by humans, this is absolutely stupid. WHERE is the energy going to come from for the heat pumps? Pure insanity by people that can’t think or do math and are totally gullible.
Reply
Greg Spinolae
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Average cost of heat pump? If you want to actually HEAT a house then it’s closer to £25,000 (installed) – – – PLUS the cost of new “compatible” radiators and their installation cost. The NOISE pollution is unbearable and will (very soon) require legislation to install noise abatement structures (£££) around heat pumps.
Reply