If you’ve been reading the news recently you’ll probably have heard about the so called ‘boiler tax’ which the Labour government is bringing in. The press has been quite alarmist about this, but essentially the government are not happy about the amount of heat pumps being installed in the country.
The UK Government Heat and Buildings Strategy 2021 set a heat pump installation target of 600,000 a year by 2028. This represented 2.8% of UK homes. But according to the Government’s own figures in the first 3 quarters of 2024 only around 30,000 heat pumps were installed through supported schemes.
The Labour government is very keen to drive more heat pump installations. It has decided to do so through a mixture of incentives and penalties. Beginning in April 24, a new scheme will impose fines on boiler manufacturers that do not meet sales targets for heat pumps. Companies have expressed concerns that this could lead to an increase in the installation cost of new gas boilers by as much as £120.
Ed Miliband, The Energy Secretary was questioned at a parliamentary committee about the possibility of the Government retracting the proposed ban on new gas boilers by 2035. He responded: “We can inform the public that they may need to consider a heat pump instead of a gas boiler at some point in the future.”
There is a lot of anger in the press about the so called ‘boiler tax’. Some consumer groups are worried that households will be forced to switch to a heat pump, even if they don’t live in suitable houses. At WeLoveHeatPumps we always say that heat pumps are not for everyone. However we don’t really understand that alarmism in the press. After all, one of the biggest markets for heat pumps in Europe is Scandinavia – an area which has much colder and longer winters than the UK.
Nevertheless, we have to work with a British public that is skeptical of heat pumps and needs persuading of their benefit. This is where we are. We believe that to truly revolutionise the UK heating market we need to take consumers with us and not just impose further taxes on them. The government must make a convincing argument that heat pumps are the future. It must win hearts and minds in the battle for net zero.
Tim Bichara. Tim is a tech and property entrepreneur who is passionate about modern construction and energy saving technologies
