Following the Budget announcements made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt on 15th March 2023 the heating sector has reacted, with several people calling for further measures to help in the process of decarbonising heat.
Martyn Bridges, Director of Technical Services at Worcester Bosch: (pictured)
“We welcome the Chancellor’s three-month extension of the £2,500 price cap to reduce financial pressures on UK households.
“However, this is only a temporary measure. We were hoping to see a national grant scheme encouraging homeowners to insulate their properties and increase energy efficiency. A solution that would reduce energy usage and costs for the long-term.
“But given cost-of-living, homeowners will generally struggle to consider property improvements. This could also have a knock-on effect on our road to decarbonised home heating, as more efficient homes are suited for low carbon technology. We hope to see further commitment and measures from Government in supporting homeowners in increasing their EPC Ratings in the near future.”
Russell Dean, Mitsubishi Electric Residential Product Group Director:
“While today’s Budget will continue to build the foundation for achieving Net Zero, it could have gone further and build upon a commitment for the environment and to reach the target by 2050.
“Several measures announced in today’s Budget, including the extension of the CCA (Climate Change Agreement) Scheme and plans to invest in more domestic sources of energy, will support the transition towards more renewable and secure energy sources by 2050. The extension of the Energy Price Guarantee also provides much-needed help for families struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
“However more long-term viable solutions for reaching Net Zero would have been welcomed in today’s statement.
“One measure that could lower energy prices further would be to decouple electricity from gas. While the price of electricity is pegged to the cost of gas, dependent upon its demand and supply, or potential for weaponisation as with the war in Ukraine, it will remain at risk of continued price hikes.
“As many businesses plan to remove gas from their buildings over the next few years, and heat pumps are recognised as the future of both commercial and home heating in Britain, it is also vital the government supports wider adoption of the technology. To encourage this, we would have liked to have seen a commitment to roll over unspent money from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for families to insulate their homes and install the technology.
“As part of this, the government must also incentivise the training of more installers to fit heat pumps. Without this, the current target of installing 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028 is in jeopardy.
“While today’s statement indicated promising signs of a transition towards renewable alternatives, encouraging greater investment in heat pumps, alongside more installer training, will help driver wider adoption of the technology as we look towards net zero.”
Henk van Den Berg, Strategic Business Manager, Heating & Renewables at Daikin UK:
“Yet again this budget has ignored the clear case for shifting the Climate Change Levy’s focus away from electricity to gas, leaving low-carbon heating out in the cold. A heat pump will typically save 5-10% in annual running costs compared to a gas boiler, but the prospect of further savings is being strangled by what’s basically an outdated tax on the electricity that powers them.
“If heat pumps are to become mainstream and support the UK’s net zero ambition, more needs to be done to prevent us from falling behind other countries in the global green race. While financial support from the government is still in place, the benefits of heat pumps versus fossil fuel systems need to be properly communicated to encourage better uptake of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, bringing forward a ban on installing gas boilers in new homes, and clearer training support for installers.”
Trevor Harvey, CEO of Stelrad Group plc:
“The Chancellor’s U-turn on energy bill support will come as a welcome relief to people struggling with their heating bills but it was a shame that there was nothing beyond this. There was a real opportunity in this Budget to help people heat their homes more effectively for the long-term but it’s been passed up in favour of a short-term sticking plaster.
“The Government should be incentivising homeowners when it comes to practical measures such as insulating their homes more effectively and installing more modern and efficient radiators. Short term price guarantees, alongside encouraging the mass adoption of heat pumps which aren’t even suitable for the vast majority of homes, isn’t really a coherent strategy that will help the country reduce its heating bills. When you layer in the fact that heating in UK homes produces around 17% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, it’s clear we need a more effective plan to help the country’s houses become both more efficient and less carbon intensive.”
