3. Decreasing fossil fuel dependence for home heating
Why?
Most homes in the UK are heated using gas central heating systems. Burning natural gas in this way accounts for almost 20% of UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing gas and oil boilers with more efficient low carbon electrical heating systems, such as ground and air source heat pumps, is a national priority. Fossil-fuel based boilers will be banned for new homes in 2025and government grants (currently £7,500 per system) are available to encourage the installation of air source heat pumps on existing properties.
How?
- Ensure your home is as well insulated as possible
- Assess which low carbon heating system is best for you and your property. The options are direct electrical heating or a heat pump
- Direct electric heating includes electric fires, fan heaters and storage heaters with immersion heaters and electric boilers for water. They are very efficient but need a lot of electricity and can therefore be expensive
- Heat pumps extract heat from the air outside (air source heat pump) or from the ground (ground source heat pump) and pump it into your hot water or heating system. See: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/energy-at-home/heating-your-home/heat-pumps/
- Contact an accredited renewable energy specialist to design and install a system that suits your property
- Ensure your property is adequately ventilated. See, for example: https://www.cse.org.uk/advice/mechanical-ventilation-with-heat-recovery/
- If you would like to talk to someone in the village who has already installed a heat pump contact the Environment Group
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