New report exposes the cold hard truth about heat pumps
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A major new report reviewing government data and surveying more than 1,000 heat pump owners has exposed the reality of heat pumps and how that contrasts with the claims of the industry and of politicians - and the challenge this presents to current net zero planning.
Despite widespread claims that heat pumps cut energy bills, the independent Censuswide survey paints a very different picture. Eighty-five per cent of respondents said their heat pump did not reduce their bills, while nearly seven in ten reported that their heating costs had gone up.
The report shows that heat pumps typically deliver much lower real-world performance than their designer’s claim. And because electricity remains far more expensive than gas, running an air source heat pump currently costs around 24% more than heating a home with a modern gas boiler.
Upfront costs are an even bigger barrier. Ignoring subsidies, the average cost of replacing a gas boiler with an air source heat pump — including necessary changes to the heating system — is around four times higher than fitting a new gas boiler.
The findings also underline that heat pumps work best only in well-insulated homes with low heat demand. Around six million homes in Britain will never be suitable for a heat pump.
There is, however, a clear upside on carbon. Air source heat pumps can cut emissions by around 70% compared with a modern gas boiler, with ground source systems delivering even higher savings. But the report notes that the embodied carbon from home upgrades and grid reinforcement must be included to understand the full climate impact.
Dale Vince OBE, founder of Ecotricity, said: “I’m an environmentalist — I’ve used heat pumps for nearly 20 years — but I’m also a realist. I know what heat pumps can and can’t do, and they are not a national solution. The key issue with heat pumps is efficiency — measured by something called the Coefficient of Performance, or COP. It’s about how many units of heat you get back for every unit of electricity you put in.
“Because electricity costs four times as much as gas, heat pumps need to deliver a COP of 4 for heating bills to remain the same — no savings, but no increased cost either. And while many manufacturers claim figures like this, in the real world performance is far lower. The average COP of all heat pumps in use in Britain today is less than 3. At that level of performance, heating bills rise by around one third.
“Heat pumps can cut carbon — but it comes at a cost. Our research shows that, in the real world, heat pumps mean higher bills, high upfront costs, and around six million homes that can never have one. Heat pumps have a role to play — in modern, well-insulated homes and for people who can afford them — but we need honesty in this debate and a practical approach. Replacing gas in home heating is a big challenge. For that, we need a joined-up plan. A heat pump in every home is simply not possible — or desirable. So we need a Plan B.”
You can read the report here.
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