Heat pump grant is 'scheme for wealthy' says Andy Mayer
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With a goal to help households amid the worsening energy crisis, as well as hit net-zero targets, ministers now want 600,000 heat pumps installed every year until 2028. However, with the average heat pump installation costing between £5,000 and £15,000 – up to 10 times the average £1,500 gas boiler – few households are able to make the change, despite assurances that the initial cost would be offset by lower bills going forward.
Utilita Energy’s inaugural “Household Energy Behaviour Index” investigated the nation’s attitudes towards home energy.
The UK survey of 5,000 households warned of a “major disconnect” between the Government’s net-zero strategy and the general public.
The research found that 84 percent of households feel the Government has not provided clear enough guidance on how to increase energy efficiency and save money on utility bills.
The report also found that the average household is willing to invest just £148 in energy efficiency measures – a far cry from the sum required to install a heat pump.
Just one one-in-five households intend to purchase “big ticket” items such as heat pumps, solar panels, or electric vehicles, the report found.
Utilita Energy CEO Bill Bullen said: “The Government’s current ‘spend to save’ approach to energy efficiency is not going to work.
“Our report findings reveal that the £148 average investment in energy efficiency measures will not support the Government’s ambition to encourage the installation of 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
“Despite its many iterations, the Government’s net-zero strategy is currently upside down and is only speaking to the ‘energy elite’, and even then, this group is confused about which technology they can trust to help them save costs and have no idea where to start.
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“Our findings confirm this short-sighted ‘spend to save’ approach to energy efficiency is harming progress by leaving millions of households who can’t afford these technologies feeling disengaged and not part of the nation’s net-zero journey.”
The UK currently has more properties using gas boilers than any other country in Europe, with 85 percent of UK homes heated this way.
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