Households could receive bigger grants from the government to replace boilers with heat pumps.
Under the scheme, consumers can get a grant to help pay for replacing fossil fuel heating systems, including oil, gas or electric, with a heat pump or a biomass boiler.
Traditional boilers use natural gas, propane, or heating oil to heat up a home. A heat pump works by extracting heat from the outside air and transferring it inside. A ground source heat pump transfers heat from the ground outside your home to heat your radiators.
All these options are a highly efficient and low carbon alternative to existing fossil fuel systems, such as traditional boilers, said the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
To boost the interest in heat pumps, the government has allocated £450 million for the BUS.
British households could also benefit from reduced energy bills if they opt for a heat pump, the consultation said.
However, to reap the long-term cost benefits, consumers have to typically pay a higher price to buy and install a heat pump, than they would normally pay for a boiler.
The government sees the high initial cost as a “significant barrier” to the success of their plan to make the UK a net zero carbon emitter by 2050.
While the scheme has allocated a total of £150 million per year, so far only £81 million in vouchers has been issued to customers. This could indicate a lower-than-expected interest in the government’s offer.
The scheme was meant to run until 2025, but the government extended it to 2028, and based on the results of the running consultation, bigger grants could become available for consumers.
“Today’s changes go even further and will mean even more people could benefit from making the switch, offering them the option for a low-emission, low-cost form of heating their homes,” Lord Callanan said.
The government also seeks information from stakeholders on whether it should simplify the process for customers applying for grants, whose homes may not meet the minimum insulation requirements.
Unrealistic Ambition
The CEO of the trade body the Energy and Utilities Alliance, Mike Foster has called the government scheme “wretched” and argued that the majority of people “simply cannot afford a heat pump, subsidised or not.”“Could it possibly be the average installation cost of a heat pump being £13,000, money consumers simply do not have? When mortgage rates are rocketing; when consumer confidence is falling and businesses brace for an economic downturn, is it any wonder households are tightening their purse strings?” Mr. Foster wrote.
The government plans to reach the target of 600,000 heat pump installs a year by 2028 but Mr. Foster argued that current figures “cast doubt” on that goal.
Under government plans, householders won’t be able to install new oil and gas boilers from 2026. Homeowners, who are not connected to the gas grid will have to buy air-source heat pumps instead.
