Heat pumps: more than 80% of households in Great Britain ‘satisfied with system’
More than 80% of households that have replaced their gas boilers with an electric heat pump are satisfied with their new heating system, according to the first major survey of heat pump users.
Those who use heat pumps to warm their homes reported broadly similar levels of satisfaction to those with gas boilers, the survey commissioned by the innovation charity Nesta found.
Satisfaction levels were also similar between respondents who installed a heat pump in a new-build home or in older properties, at more than 80%, despite persistent concerns that heat pumps are only effective in modern buildings.
The survey of more than 2,500 domestic heat pump owners and more than 1,000 domestic gas boiler owners in England, Scotland and Wales over the last winter is thought to be the largest investigation into how households have responded to heat pumps to date.
Madeleine Gabriel, the director of a sustainable future at Nesta, said results should put to rest “outdated” concerns about the low carbon heating technology and prompt the government to “redouble its efforts” to phase out fossil fuel heating.
Concerns over the effectiveness of heat pumps have threatened to derail the government’s plan for 600,000 heat pumps to be installed across the UK every year to help cut carbon emissions.
Households have been slow to take up government vouchers worth £5,000 to help cover the cost of replacing a gas boiler with a new heat pump. Slightly more than a third of the scheme’s grants were taken up in the last financial year.
However, the survey, which was undertaken by Eunomia, found that 81% of households were as satisfied or more satisfied with heat pumps compared with previous heating systems, including gas boilers, electric heating, or oil and LPG
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