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Heat Pumps - the future for heating in rental properties?

A trade body is calling for a partnership with the government to push the domestic heating market towards heat pumps as sales of new fossil fuel boilers is phased out by the mid-2030s.

The Heat Pump Association is also changing emphasis to encourage more installers ahead of an expected rise in demand.

Last month the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy opened its controversial boiler upgrade scheme.

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Landlords across England and Wales as well as owner occupiers may apply for grants of up to £5,000 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump or a biomass boiler, and up to £6,000 off the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump.

The grant is paid directly to the installer and discounted from the price charged.

Phil Hurley, the Heat Pump Association chair, says: “Central heating will personalise a significant part of the journey to net zero for millions of consumers. 

“The next decade will see the biggest shake-up of the heating sector in living memory as the country’s homes become increasingly heated by heat pumps.

“The Heat Pump industry is fully ready to take on this challenge and be the prime mover for this change, with Government providing the enabling policy change. 

“Significant investments in UK manufacturing and installer training have already been made in response to some of the signals Government has given so far. Further clarity of the policy framework will unlock the remaining investor confidence needed to finish the job.

“Today’s 130,000 heating installers and a new generation of apprentices will be front and centre of this transition.”

The boiler upgrade scheme is open to domestic and small non-domestic properties with an installation capacity up to 45kWth (this covers most homes), and with a current Energy Performance Certificate with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation.

Grants are only available for air source heat pumps, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps (including water source heat pumps and those on shared ground loops).

Hybrid heat pump systems, for example a combination of a gas boiler and air source heat pump, are not eligible.

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

  • George Dawes

    Unfortunately we're headed that way then suddenly there'll be a power outage as the infrastructure simply can't cope ( that's convenient ) and lots of people will suffer ...

    The whole green agenda is one big con , the climate change is part of a natural cycle that mankind has zero say in , but it keeps us plebs busy while they get up to their long term nefarious plans ...

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    The chair of the Heat Pump Association says heat pumps are the future. Clive Sinclair believed we would all drive C5s! Just because they say it doesn't make it so!

  •  G romit

    How come the fact (from the IPCC) that global temperatures haven't risen for the last 15 years is more widely talked about or published?

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    I can see the sale of new gas boilers going up the year before the ban ! I will be one of them, I will then store it.

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    People talking up ground source and air source heat pumps are doing so to support their own agenda (their business success, their profits and personal net worth). Millions of properties are unable to have these devices fitted so traditional boilers or electric heating are the only other options.
    I say hurry up and build some mini nuclear power stations around the country then electricity prices are cheaper and we can all go electric.

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    Heat pumps are expensive, don't work in cold weather and use a lot of electricity, I won't be fitting them.

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    Landlords have to consider EPC legislation not just zero carbon targets. If an electric driven pump is installed to replace a gas boiler, your EPC rating will drop (get worse). The government needs to fund complimentary fuels such and nitrogen gas that will work with modern gas boilers.

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    Could you explain that a bit more Rob? I thought they were supposed to improve them and that was the point?

     
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    Rob

    I think you meant Hydrogen which can be mixed with natural gas and its waste product is water. A 50-50 mixture would halve the CO2 etc. emissions from a normal gas boiler and apparently would need minimum change to the boiler or gas network, but the Greens don't like that, along with Nuclear Power, diesel engines and fuel efficient motorways and city bypasses!

     
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    In many existing houses heat pumps simply wouldn't do the job and there is nowhere to put them anyway. As they're not even being routinely installed in new build houses there is clearly still a problem with them. Is that problem down to installation cost or that building companies don't want a load of bad publicity about ineffective heating or high energy bills?

    Realistically it's only a few weeks in winter that heating is a major problem. Whichever heating system we use is going to be expensive for that period. Most people want a system that can actually do the job and due to the construction of older houses and lack of outside space that's currently a gas boiler.

    Moving forward replacing those gas boilers with another type of boiler may be viable. For now simply changing the way we use existing heating systems would go someway to whatever target the government is going to fail to hit. Smart heating controls make big difference to gas consumption. Solar panels can cut gas usage significantly. Surplus solar energy can be diverted to either the hot water immersion heater or a storage heater. Time of use electric tariffs could also have a similar effect if used for water heating or storage heaters. Solar panels also boost an EPC score by usually between 7 and 10 points depending on the number of panels.

    I have 2 identical HMOs in the same street, one with solar panels and one without. I had a solar diverter fitted a few weeks ago and have just switched energy provider on both houses so I'm actually getting bills now.
    Gas bill for 23 days for house with solar panels £22.87, electric £46.23.
    Identical house without solar panels gas bill £46.95 and electric £77.43
    Both sets of bills included standing charges of £5.95 for gas and £11.25 for electric. Obviously the winter period wouldn't be such a difference but I think it shows that hybrid situations may be worth exploring. A combination of solar panels, solar diverters, storage heaters and time of use electric tariffs alongside a boiler would give a good compromise between cutting gas consumption and effectively heating homes.

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    I want to remind everyone that I have invented undetectable insulation paint which you simply throw on the inside walls and it can HALVE energy bills when coupled with more efficient control systems, turning thermostats down a few degrees, switching heating on for shorter periods and wearing warmer clothing when feeling cold.

    I am also trialling a version which can be emailed and applied by waving the phone at the wall. This is more expensive but I am open to offers to build up a gullible customer base, with the deepest discounts available to those who cancel their Shelter donations.

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    Robert… sign me up…. Can I pay in Wonka Tokens 🏵

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    Robert prefers pints, they are his currency

     
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    Correct!

    Pints tend to keep pace with property prices.

    I know of one property sold in the late sixties for about £5000 (or 40,000 pints) now selling for around £200,000 or 40,000 pints - so pints are a better currency than pounds.

     
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