Martyn Bridges, Director of External Affairs at Worcester Bosch, examines new government recommendations on preventing new heat pump owners from falling into fuel poverty:
Heat pumps are seen as an essential means of improving the UK’s heating quality and decarbonising our homes. But at what price?
The government has recently published its findings on this (“How to ensure a successful transition to heat pumps for households at risk of fuel poverty”), its main purpose being to examine how the transition to heat pumps is going – and whether the move is putting households at risk of fuel poverty.
Clearly, a ‘no-no’ is the hope. The last thing 10 Downing Street wants is for people who are currently heating their home with gas boilers moving to heat pumps to incur additional running costs and be pushed into fuel poverty.
So, the report was commissioned. And, frankly, it’s pretty comprehensive, surveying 1,100 installations. In a nutshell, its basic conclusion is that heat pumps can deliver warmer homes, but only when they’re properly installed, commissioned and supported over time.
Nothing new here. We could all have guessed they’d say that. But it’s the ‘support over time’ that’s new, and worth pausing over.
Many local authorities, more or less ‘fit and forget’ gas-fired boilers. They obviously service them and undertake safety inspections, but they don’t really have to support and monitor them throughout their lives. Yet, the new report suggests ongoing monitoring is an absolute requirement. They discovered, of course, that poor installations run the risk of increasing fuel bills. But what’s really interesting is that the government, who are obsessed primarily with the volumes of heat pumps being installed so they can report the numbers, are actually now suggesting that the quality of the installation rather than quantity should be measured. That’s really important.
In addition (and contrary to some of the government’s more recent positioning), they recognise successful outcomes from heat pump installations are dependent on fabric improvements. That was one of the things the government previously chose to drop. Originally, there was a requirement that to obtain the BUS heat pump grant, you needed an up-to-date EPC rating and any recommendations on fabric improvements be undertaken. Now, according to the report, you may have to undertake fabric improvements, as well as installation quality, user understanding, tariff suitability, and monitoring over time.
The key findings of the report show that household experiences vary widely. Some homes describe improvements in warmth and comfort, in particular where their previous heating system had been expensive, ineffective or complex to use. Others reported underperformance, high bills, faults or a lack of support when problems arose.
Overall, households that moved from electric, oil or solid fuel systems were more positive than gas homes. Those replacing a working gas boiler were also more likely to be unsure about the benefits of switching, particularly if their running costs increased.
Some of the main recommendations in the report were:
- Ensure minimum standards of commissioning are met. This recommendation is key, will have genuine impact and is something the industry has been asking for for years. There seems, to me, to be a real reluctance to create a much-needed British standard on minimum standards in heat pump installation.
- Monitor the effectiveness of resolving heat pump systems and faults for households at risk of fuel poverty. The need to define clear responsibilities for fault resolution to stop households being passed between installer, landlord, manufacturer and (in cases) housing associations.
- Ensure households are equipped to operate their systems confidently and efficiently. The report showed how many handover briefings were either hurried or non-existent. This needs to be improved, with heating controls and functionality such as scheduling, weather compensation and flow temperature settings clearly explained.
- Establish minimum performance guarantees instead of design-stage predictions. Something the industry’s been calling for, for years. System performance should be monitored based on actual usage data, enabling underperformance to be identified ahead of rectifying it.
For many of us who’ve been working in the heat pump industry for years, the report is really encouraging. When the government actually publishes a report that recognises a series of important needs, it makes for more telling reading – and more confidence in better outcomes for families at risk of fuel poverty.
