Energy bill warning: Britons could pay ‘eye-watering’ £35,000 for heat pumps to cut costs | Personal Finance | Finance
Currently, households across the country are in the midst of an annual energy bill hike of £693 on top of soaring inflation. Recent estimates from the nation’s regulator Ofgem suggest that the energy price cap will reach as high as £3,200 by October of this year. In response to this, the Government has launched a variety of initiatives to mitigate the cost of living crisis, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Despite this new wave of support, energy experts are sounding the alarm that households could be hit with an exotriante £35,000 bill.
This particular scheme encourages households to replace their traditional boilers with ground source heat pumps, which are viewed to be environmentally friendly.
Through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Britons are able to get £5,000 removed from cost and installation of an air source heat pump.
On top of this, people who are looking for support will get £6,000 off the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump.
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As promised by the Government, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is to last for three years and will also cover costs for installing a biomass boiler.
While this support has been praised, experts at Boiler Central are warning that the cost of installing heat pumps into someone’s home could hit £35,000.
This means the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is not offering enough cash to mitigate the potentially expensive costs of boiler replacement.
Myles Robinson, a heating expert from Boiler Central, shared his thoughts on the expense of heat pumps despite the support from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
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Mr Robinson explained: “The costs of installing a ground source heat pump can rise to an eye-watering £35,000 – if, that is, your home is even suitable for installing a heat pump.
“Air source heat pumps are much cheaper to install, averaging to around £7,000, but they are entirely dependent on the outside weather, meaning you still need to use your boiler on the colder days.
“As such, the value of heat pumps does not come in financial form, but, rather, in terms of predictability and eco-friendliness.
“As the name suggests, these pumps source their energy to heat a home from either the ground or the air.
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“Compared to air source ones, ground source heat pumps provide more renewable heating, capable of drawing more heat for less effort and require little-to-no electricity to run.
“If your home and pockets are fit for installing a heat pump, especially a ground source one, it really is absolutely fantastic for the environment.
“Heat pumps also offer some certainty amid the massively fluctuating gas prices and the related energy prices over the years, decreasing one’s dependence on such a volatile market, particularly now.”
However, Mr Robinson did note that there are positive attributes to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, namely it encouraged households which are able to host heat pumps to adopt this environmentally friendly energy method.
He added: “If your home is suitable for ground source heat pumps, they are perfect especially for underfloor heating.
“Compared to air source ones, they provide more renewable heating, capable of drawing more heat for less effort and require little-to-no electricity to run.
“They are also far less dependent on the weather, compared to air source heat pumps which struggle to draw warmth from cooler air temperatures, just when you need the heating the most.”
