Heat pumps are ‘classic pratfall’, says Grand Designs expert
PRESENTING for more than two decades has shown Kevin McCloud plenty of questionable building decisions. And now he has spotted another one – in the Government’s heat pump policies.
Plans to spend millions rolling out heat pumps to the nation are a “classic pratfall”, the presenter has said – and Britain should be focusing on insulation, ventilation and shutters instead.
The country’s housing stock faces an overhaul as part of net-zero plans, with a push to replace gas boilers with heat pumps to reduce emissions and new building restrictions limiting large windows to keep homes cool.
He said that the net-zero push should start with insulation and ventilation, especially systems that can also filter and warm the air.
“The classic pratfall is that you look at the market, you say how can we make it
greener, what technology can we bolt on to it to make it green? Oh, let’s go for heat pumps.
“When actually, if you said insulate, make airtight and put in an MVHR [mechanical ventilation with heat recovery] system, many homes would then require very, very little extra by way of energy input,” he said. “I love heat pumps, they’re wonderful machines. But where you start with a building is fabric first.”
A £450million scheme starting next month will offer households £5,000 to install heat pumps, aiming to bring the cost closer to gas boilers. However, the Government has been criticised for failing to prioritise subsidies for insulation.
New regulations this year also limit window sizes in an effort to stop homes overheating in hotter summers. However, Mr McCloud said he believed Britain should turn to exterior shutters.
“As we get warmer in the summers we will end up with more shutters like they do in Italy on the outside of buildings. If you look at Regency buildings in Britain, which were fitted with balconies, and Victorian buildings, and Georgian houses, they had exterior blinds,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of technologies which, historically, were all there.”
The presenter was speaking in the run-up to Grand Designs Live at the ExCel in London next month.