Public remain sceptical on low-carbon heating

Utilities companies must focus on the upsides to customers of decarbonisation of heat if they are to overcome a widespread reluctance to act on the issue, an expert has told Utility Week.

Matt Lipson, of Energy Systems Catapult (ESC), said research by the group showed significant dissatisfaction among the public about how their homes are heated – and how energy efficient they are. Lipson suggested this could be “the trojan horse to get low carbon in”.

ESC conducted a survey into public attitudes towards climate change and the low-carbon solutions that have been proposed.

The poll of over 2,000 people showed 75 per cent believe climate change is a global emergency, with 84 per cent saying government should take action and 77 per cent agreeing that individuals should take some responsibility.

However, less than half (49 per cent) identified gas central heating as a contributor to climate change.

Only 2 per cent have so far switched to a low-carbon heating system and fewer than 20 per cent of those polled said they were likely to when they next need a replacement. The main reasons cited were the cost and convenience. However, in a related piece of work ESC found that uptake remained very low even when people were offered installation of a system free of charge. The latest survey showed little variation in attitudes towards the different low-carbon heating options. Some 17 per cent thought conversion to a hydrogen boiler would be easy to do, while 14 per cent thought the same for a heat network and 13 per cent for a heat pump.

Lipson – consumer insight business lead at ESC – told Utility Week it was clear there was “no silver bullet on decarbonisation of heat”.

He added: “Heating is a real challenge. Raising awareness is one thing but it’s trying to establish that link in people’s minds between switching to low-carbon solutions and the impact on both the climate and their lives.

“It’s clear that most of us are putting up with heating problems – people really struggle with controlling how they heat their homes. Utilities have an opportunity to frame the message that low-carbon heating is the answer to these problems. Other industries use latent dissatisfaction as a way to introduce new products. The key is to lead on the problem rather than the solution.”

Lipson said that in many cases the technical language used when comparing heating options confuses consumers.

“People don’t understand kilowatt hours”, he insisted. “The focus should be warm homes. If people were offered warm homes for a fixed price – a heat plan similar to a mobile phone plan – I think that could be a game-changer.”

The survey was conducted before the coronavirus lockdown in the UK. Lipson said that there would be some positives to come from this tragic situation. He pointed out that many boiler technicians would be among the workers furloughed and that there was an opportunity to use the time to conduct online training on the transition in heating technologies.

He said there was also an opportunity for utilities to build a new relationship with consumers – with a flexible approach to bills for those struggling to pay having the potential to erase some negative stereotypes.