Credit: Baxi
Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit calculates homes with heat pumps, insulation, and EVs use less than half the imported energy of households reliant on fossil fuels
Growing numbers of 'energy patriots' are helping to curb the UK's reliance on fossil fuel energy imports by adopting new clean technologies.
That is the conclusion of a new analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank, which calculated that homes that using electric heat pumps, insulation, and electric vehicles use less than half of the imported energy than a household reliant on gas and petrol.
The study showed how a typical household using a gas boiler and petrol car will be dependent on imports for almost 70 per cent of its energy, totalling around 17MWh a year. In contrast, a household that is insulated to Energy Performance Certificate grade C, uses a heat pump, and has an electric car will use 45 per cent of the energy imports of a household with a gas boiler and a petrol car, at around 7.5MWh a year.
Households that also deploy solar panels can cut their use of fossil fuel imports further to just 6MWh, or around a third of the fossil fuel imports associated with a typical household.
Homes that run a diesel car and use an oil, rather than gas, boiler are even more dependent on foreign sources of energy, being almost 90 per cent import dependent, according to the analysis.
"Those who want to be 'energy patriotic' and buy British homegrown energy should be switching from gas boilers and petrol cars to electric heat pumps and EVs that increasingly run on British wind and solar energy," said Jess Ralston, energy analyst at ECIU. "As North Sea oil and gas output continues its inevitable decline, the dependence on foreign imports for households using boilers and internal combustion cars will only become more stark.
"Generating more British renewable energy and using it to power heat pumps and electric cars would get households, and the UK as a whole, off energy imports and remove the risk of the kind of price volatility we've seen in recent years."
In related news, the boiler industry has this week faced fresh questions over whether it will refund customers who paid more for boilers during the period when manufacturers imposed a 'boiler tax' to help them cover projected costs associated with the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM).
The government last month confirmed it would controversially delay the full implementation of the CHMM, which is designed to impose fines on boiler manufacturers who fail to hit targets for heat pump production. The year-long delay followed intense lobbying from boiler manufacturers who argued the policy would force up their costs and responded by pre-emptively imposing a levy of around £120 on the sale of new boilers from the start of this year.
The delay to the full introduction of the CHMM sparked questions over whether the thousands of households that purchased new boilers during the first three months of the year would now receive a refund.
Sky News reported over the weekend that three of the UK's 'big four' boiler manufacturers have now confirmed they will refund retailers and distributors. But it remains unclear if payments will definitely reach customers who purchased boilers earlier this year. The firms - Bosch, Vaillant and BAXI - said it was the responsibility of retailers and distributors to ensure money is passed on to end users.
ECIU has estimated the 'big four' could have generated £40m in additional revenues through the 'boiler tax'. "The manufacturers introduced the boiler tax, not the retailers, so it feels like they are passing the blame to a middle party," Ralston told Sky News. "They had been suggesting the fines should be removed, so they must have thought it was a possibility they'd have to refund the boiler tax - it doesn't seem they put in place any mechanisms for that eventuality, leaving someone else on the hook."
The leading boiler manufacturers said that in most instances they did not have a direct relationship with end users, and as such it was more appropriate for retailers and distributors to pass on the refunds.
In further industry news, industry body Heating Trades Network UK has today launched a new campaign to work with heating installers to better promote the benefits of heat pumps, which it said typically boast a lifespan twice that of gas boilers and have the potential to cut heating bills by up to 27 per cent.
Louise Howlett, commercial director at R A Brown Heating, a member of the Heating Trades Network, said: 'Everyone knows we need to do more to make our homes energy efficient. But the information out there is often over technical and confusing. The simple truth is, for most people, getting a heat pump would make their home warmer and cheaper to run. We want to bust some of the myths around new technology like heat pumps and help people save money."
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