Desire to cut Russian gas use spurs heat pump appetite

A third of people say they would be more likely to get an electric heat pump in order to help insulate the UK from Russian interference in the gas market, according to a new poll.

The survey, which was carried out by Opinium for the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) ahead of this Saturday’s launch of the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, has found that 33% would be more likely to install a heat pump if it would help to improve the UK’s energy security.

This proportion rises to 49% among those living in those homes, which are ready to install a heat pump because they are  sufficiently well insulated.

Switching all of these approximately 7 million homes from a gas boiler to a heat pump would completely wipe out, twice over, the need to import gas from Russia, according to the ECIU.

This saving is based on the calculation that Russia currently supplies around 4% of UK gas.

In addition, switching from boilers to heat pumps cuts the average home’s gas use by 81% with the residual amount accounted for by the fuel used to generate electricity.

The survey also found that only 28% of people know that gas boilers produce nitrous oxide air pollution, but that once they do, 41% say it makes them more likely to want to want to switch to an electric heat pump.

From 2 April, grants of £5,000 will be available to people switching to an electric heat pump under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Jess Ralston, senior analyst at ECIU, said: “Millions of homes are already suitable for swapping out an old gas boiler for an electric heat pump which are both reliable and clean. As with EVs, early adopters will help to drive down the costs and with demand already set to be high plus a heightened focus on the need to get off imported gas, the government may be wise to consider expanding the scheme.”

However, the new scheme should be “at least” quadrupled to ensure that the government’s target of 600,000 heat pumps per annum by 2028 can be met, Alan Whitehead told Parliament last week.

During a House of Commons debate on the regulations governing the scheme, the shadow energy minister described the £150 million annual sum earmarked for it as “woefully inadequate”.

He said that the scheme would deliver a maximum of 90,00 heat pumps.

This figure would fall far short of the government’s 600,000 annual target figure even if new building regulations mean all new homes must be equipped with heat pumps by that date, Whitehead said: “That is just not going to happen. Even if we assume that a number of heat pumps will be otherwise installed in new build properties—this scheme is predominantly about existing properties that can be retrofitted with heat pumps—we can see just how far from the stated ambition this scheme leaves us over this period.

“It will get us nowhere near the target figure that I mentioned, and I think we should at least quadruple the scheme to get us on a trajectory that will actually get us to the 600,000 heat pump installations we have been talking about.”

He also said that the new boiler scheme is not fresh spending by the government because it replaces the renewable heat incentive, which was also allocated £150 million per annum.

And Whitehead expressed concern that the number of heat pumps installed via the scheme will be “a lot fewer” than 30,000 because biomass boilers will also be eligible for grants.

Responding for the government, energy minister Greg Hands told the Commons that the number of biomass boilers is expected to be “relatively low” and that the “vast majority” of the funding will go on heat pumps.