Exhibitor News

The Climate Emergency and the Energy Crisis

While climate change can no longer be denied it wasn’t until 2015, that world leaders came together to sign the Paris Agreement, committing to limit global warming and reach a climate neutral world by mid-century.

In the UK, the government pledged to decarbonise homes, and commercial, industrial and public sector buildings, to reach net zero by 2050. By 2025, gas boilers will be banned from newly built houses, and by 2035, the UK expects to phase out all gas boiler installations. 

It’s a tall order, since 87% of people in the UK rely on gas for heating. The switch won’t be easy since successive governments have failed to invest sufficiently in renewable energy technologies. The nation’s over-reliance on gas has made the UK more vulnerable to fluctuations on the global market, which is in part why we are so affected by energy price rises right now. Though there are political choices around how we tax energy. 

Heat Pumps: The Options

Heat pumps (electrically powered devices) absorb heat from around a building. They work by gathering small amounts of heat energy from air, ground or water and concentrate it to warm up a building. 

Air source heat pumps take air from outside and use it to power a building’s heating and hot water systems. They are sometimes referred to as air-to-water heat pumps because they transfer heat from the outside air to water to heat rooms via radiators or underfloor heating. 

Ground source heat pumps (also known as ground-to-water heat pumps) absorb geothermal heat from the ground. A long or coiled pipe is buried in trenches, or a long loop is inserted into a borehole in the grounds or garden around the building. A mixture of water and anti-freeze flows around the pipe and heat from the ground is absorbed into the fluid. This then passes through a heat exchanger into a heat pump to heat the home/building.

Water source heat pumps use nearby water to extract energy from the water and turn it into heat. This can be from a nearby lake, loch, large pond, or river. Find out more about the different types of water source heat pumps here.

The Pros and Cons of Heat Pumps

The Pros:

• Heat pumps can cut the carbon footprint of a home or building by up to 44%
• Heat pumps are extremely efficient and can produce 3 or 4 times more heat than other forms of heating
• The Energy Savings Trust estimates that a ground source heat pump could save between £790 to £1,425 per year on heating
• VAT on heat pumps has been reduced to 0% for the next five years
• The current Boiler Upgrade Scheme (see below) provides help with upfront costs

The Cons:

• The upfront cost is much higher than that of a gas boiler – depending on the type of heat pump, costs can be anything from £6,000 to £35,000
• Some buildings aren’t suitable i.e. the geology doesn’t allow for a borehole or trench
• Government funding is falling short – just 0.3% of homes will benefit from the current scheme
• Heat pumps can emit noise which could breach legal limits
• BEIS warns that some energy saving devices could actually increase heating bills
• A lack of installers – gas boilers have long dominated in the UK, leaving installers with little incentive to train to install heat pumps until recently

Funding and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme

From this month (April 2022), the government is providing grants to encourage property owners in England and Wales to install low carbon heating systems such as heat pumps, through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). 

The £450million scheme, which opens for grant applications and payments on 23 May 2022, is designed to make renewable energy more accessible to households. The scheme, which offers up to £6,000 towards the cost of installing a heat pump, will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

Property owners (of homes or small non-domestic properties) need to check eligibility, but the scheme works via an installer, who will apply for the grant on the property owner’s behalf (and advise whether eligible). From 11 April 2022, installers will be able to open an account for the scheme with Ofgem, the scheme administrator. The Heat Pump Association (HPA) strongly recommends installers set up accounts as soon as possible.

In contrast to previous schemes, (such as the Renewable Heat Incentive, which offered financial help as a back payment after the installation of renewable technology), BUS provides households with upfront financial support.

If you want to take advantage of this future business as an installer then you must be MCS certified.