Phase-out date vital on boilers, say green experts

A TARGET date for phasing out boilers and grants to help people install heat pumps are needed to help cut emissions from heating homes, the Government has been told.

Industry experts want similar measures to those being used to accelerate the drive towards electric cars, such as a phase-out date in the 2030s and grants that bring down the cost of new technology.

There are also calls to shift green levies away from electricity to make running an electric-powered heat pump a cheaper option for consumers.

Homes contribute about 15 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions and cleaning up fossil fuel heating systems, mostly gas boilers, is needed to meet legal targets to cut climate pollution to zero overall.

The Government has pledged 600,000 new heat pumps, technology that uses electricity to take energy from the outside air, or ground, to provide homes with heating and hot water, will be installed a year by 2028.

But experts warn its plans so far will fund just 12,500 homes a year to switch to low-carbon heating systems, and Ministers have not yet published a long-awaited strategy on making the shift to clean heating.

Backers of heat pumps say installation costs, which can be about £10,000 at the moment, will fall as the industry scales up, and they will help tackle climate change and air pollution, require less maintenance, use less energy and create jobs.

The Government is also facing calls for a new programme to make homes cosier and more energy efficient and to make sure poorer and vulnerable households do not face unfair costs.