Heat pump grant scheme comes under fire for low take-up
The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee has published a letter describing the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) that provides households with grants to install heat pumps as 'seriously failing'.
The criticism follows an inquiry into the scheme in 2022. The letter, written by committee chair Baroness Parminter, outlines several barriers to consumers making use of the initiative.
Among them are inaccessibility to low-income consumers, a lack of advice on how to get a heat pump, inadequacies in EPC assessments that disqualify homes, and an insufficient base of qualified installers.
While the report criticises the workings of the BUS, it commends the underlying aim to introduce low-carbon heating systems to people's homes and to reduce the cost of heating with highly efficient heat pumps.
Find out if you can get a grant to replace your boiler with an energy efficient heat pump in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
What is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?
The BUS offers grants to consumers in England and Wales to buy and install air and ground-source heat pumps or biomass boilers to replace fossil fuel heating systems.
A heat pump extracts warm air from the environment and uses that energy to heat your home. While they run on electricity, which is pricier per kilowatt-hour than gas, they are very efficient, and overall, should use less energy to heat your home than a gas boiler.
A BUS grant offers between £5,000 and £6,000 towards the cost and installation of a heat pump. The total cost of installation is generally between £7,000 and £14,000, according to the inquiry's findings.
You have to apply through an installer accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). To be eligible, a home must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) issued in the past 10 years, with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation.
Read our home grants advice guides to see what central heating, insulation and energy subsidies are available to you.
Problems with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
In 2021, less than 2% of UK homes had low-carbon heating systems. Around 50,000 heat pumps were installed in the UK that year. The government is aiming for a target of 600,000 installations a year.
In a letter issued today, the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee described the scheme as 'seriously failing'.
It cites a number of concerns, including a fear that low-income households are locked out by prohibitively high costs, even when the BUS grant is subtracted from the installation fee.
The committee flagged other issues, as well:
- There are currently very few certified heat pump installers compared to gas boiler fitters.
- A lack of consumer advice means people are unfamiliar with heat pump technologies, and the installation process is regarded as overly complex.
- Issues with how Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) categorise the efficiency of heat pumps, and concerns that inaccurate EPCs may disqualify households that should be eligible.
- Heat pump manufacturers and installers are not expanding at the rate needed to meet the target of 600,000 installations per year.
The letter also alleges that the promise of using hydrogen for home heating is misleading consumers who are told to expect 'hydrogen-ready' boilers, despite hydrogen not being 'a serious option in the short and medium term for home heating'.
The letter also outlines solutions it believes the government should adopt, including increasing grant levels, a renewed consumer campaign and better government advice tools to improve the information available about low-carbon heating and available grants.
It also recommends better local authority engagement with communities and households that would benefit from the BUS, more encouragement of engineers to train, or retrain, as heat pump installers, and an update to EPC methodology to reward households that have switched to low-carbon heating.
Within the energy market itself, the committee suggests that overall reform is needed, but recommends improving the use of tariffs that benefit low-carbon heating and make running costs more managable, such as time-of-use tariffs, which offer lower energy costs during certain off-peak hours.
Head to our heat pumps guides to find out how they work and who they are suitable for.
Is it worth getting a heat pump?
While critical of the logistics of the BUS, the Environment and Climate Change Committee inquiry maintains that the rollout of heat pumps is the right place for the government to invest in low-carbon heating.
Air and ground-source heat pumps covered by the scheme will reduce your carbon impact and, if properly installed in a suitable home, will see a reduction of your energy bills.
Heat pumps can be very efficient and are well suited to the UK climate. They're able to reach efficiencies exceeding 300%, while A-rated gas boilers have theoretical maximum efficiencies of just over 90%.
Read more on boiler efficiency explained
The up-front cost of a heat pump is still a major barrier. As well as the installation itself, you may find you need to invest in other work that needs to be done to get the system working efficiently, such as improving your home insulation, or installing bigger radiators or underfloor heating.
The BUS offers £5,000 for an air-source heat pump or £6,000 for a ground-source heat pump, so it's worth looking into whether or not you can make the most of the grant.
Find out more about heating your home with renewable energy.
Which? research shows a growing interest in heat pumps
Interest in heat pump technologies has grown significantly in the past three years.
A consumer survey we ran in 2022 showed that 17% of respondents were interested in buying an air-source heat pump for their next heating system, up from 9% in 2020.
Meanwhile, 62% were interested in a gas boiler for their next heating system, a drop of 11 percentage points from 2020.
Our data also showed that half of oil boiler owners didn't want another oil-fuelled boiler for their next purchase.
| Year | % who want to buy an air-source heat pump | % who want to buy a ground-source heat pump | % who want to buy a gas boiler | % who want to buy an oil boiler |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (7,500) | 9% | 6% | 73% | 10% |
| 2021 (8,001) | 10% | 7% | 66% | 7% |
| 2022 (9,722) | 17% | 11% | 62% | 6% |
Data from our annual boiler reliability surveys during the summers of 2022, 2021 and 2020. Respondents were asked to state what type of heating system they were considering buying next time; they could select multiple types. Sample size of the survey in brackets.
Our annual boiler survey has found Best Buy gas, oil and electric boiler brands that have the best records of reliability, engineer opinion and customer satisfaction. Read our boiler reviews to see more.
