A report published by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) highlights the significant challenges the United Kingdom (UK) government might face regarding heat pumps and decarbonising the home heating process.
According to the report, the goal of installing 600,000 heat pumps annually by 2028 will not suffice to support the UK’s goals regarding climate change.
The PAC report says that heat pump installation is not up to the mark, and fewer homes than expected have heat pumps. Out of the 50,000 installations targeted, less than 40% of heat pumps were installed through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
The report also mentions details about the pricing of heat pumps, saying that the average cost of a heat pump is currently four times more than that of a gas boiler. In addition, the pumps are considerably more expensive to operate due to the associated electricity costs.
The problems related to installation increase with the government’s hesitance to rebalance the cost of electricity and gas.
Moreover, the installation of heat pumps is full of perplexity and complications, which increase the friction in establishing heat pumps in households.
The report says that there is still room for improvement in order to meet future targets and recommends that authorities develop better systems for data collection and strict monitoring.