Heat pumps almost completely decarbonise homes

New OVO data shows heat pumps are paving the way to fossil fuel free homes powered by cleaner, greener electricity. OVO’s data shows that those who have adopted a heat pump saw their gas consumption drop significantly - in some cases eliminating gas emissions altogether.

Increasingly powered by electricity from renewable sources and up to five times more energy efficient than gas boilers, air source heat pumps are key to cutting UK households’ carbon emissions. Home heating systems are currently responsible for 17% of carbon emissions nationally.

Yet despite this, we’re lagging behind our European counterparts when it comes to distribution of heat pumps. Only 55,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK last year, compared with more than 620,000 in France. Our polling also shows 60% of people believe heat pumps are too expensive to install and run, and 75% of people believe that their home isn’t appropriate for a heat pump. We must ensure that we are making the transition to heat pumps as easy as possible.

To help people overcome these barriers and get more heat pumps into homes, we launched a new best-in-market heat pump rate that halves the cost of electricity for heat pumps. This unlocks up to £500 savings a year compared to a gas boiler.

Research shows OVO’s discount could make almost half of the UK (45%) more likely to install a heat pump, helping to reach our net zero targets.
But we must also help people with the upfront cost of purchasing a heat pump.

The government's uplift to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme from £5,000 to £7,500 is welcome investment in putting heat pumps on cost parity with gas boilers. The upfront cost of the heat pump offering from OVO starts from £500, which includes using the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. Following OVO’s Heat Pump Plus launch in Autumn 2023 we expect to be able to analyse more insight on the impact of heat pumps on customers’ homes - both carbon and cost saving.

OVO has already installed thousands of heat pumps in local authorities and housing associations, to give people on lower incomes greener homes, through OVO Energy Solutions. Building on its experience, OVO is partnering with Heat Geek to deliver the highest quality installation experience and will guarantee maximum efficiencies are achieved.

The government must encourage the switch to electric heat by improving incentives and cutting running costs. It has delayed action on energy pricing for years and it is now critical we bring forward the consultation on rebalancing energy prices. Currently, electricity is three times more expensive than gas which is stalling the switch to clean and green electricity. This is in part due to a series of environmental and social levies that are placed on electricity. If this problem is not solved, we will see further delays to heat decarbonisation, putting our net zero targets increasingly at risk.

We also need to get more out of our grid capacity. At the moment there can be up to a decade’s delay for new renewable energy projects to be plugged into the country’s electricity supply. We are pleased to see that the government has recognised this as a critical issue that needs to be addressed, and we hope that the recent announcements will help to shift the needle in the right direction - reducing waiting times and ensuring that the right projects are connected at the right time.

Read more about OVO’s Heat Pump Plus here.