People who want to use more British-made energy for their central heating should use a heat pump rather than a traditional boiler, according to research.
Households using heat pumps use only half the imported energy as those with gas boilers, said the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank.
Heat pumps run on electricity, a higher proportion of which is generated using homegrown energy sources like wind turbines and solar panels.
By contrast, much of the UK’s gas supply is imported from countries like Norway and the United States.
We know that continuing to rely on gas boilers just means we’ll see our imports rise
International gas prices have spiked in recent years due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pushing up household energy bills.
The ECIU said a household with a heat pump will use 2.9 megawatt hours compared to 5.7 megawatt hours per year with a gas boiler for a home with an EPC rating of C.
Jess Ralston, energy analyst at the ECIU, said the heat pump rollout would help the UK “wean itself of foreign energy imports, boosting the UK’s energy security as British renewables ramp up rapidly”.
She added: “We know that continuing to rely on gas boilers just means we’ll see our imports rise, so any boiler manufacturers that stand in the way of progress on heat pumps are lobbying for higher foreign gas imports and less energy security.”
Heat pumps are much more expensive to buy and install than gas boilers but they are also more energy efficient, meaning they use less power to heat homes.
The Government wants them to be rolled out at scale to help cut carbon emissions from building heating.
Earlier in November, ministers put £30 million more into a grant scheme which gives households £7,500 off the cost of buying a heat pump.
Labour also promised to change planning rules that require heat pumps to be at least one metre from the property boundary, to help encourage take-up.
Officials say heat pumps used effectively with a smart “time of use” electricity tariff could save around £100 a year compared to a gas boiler, while better insulation could cut bills by around £200 a year.
The ECIU added that if a recent push to build more renewable energy sources like wind and solar farms continues, the amount of imported power a heat pump uses could halve again by 2030.
That would mean the devices use as little as a sixth of the imported energy that gas boilers use by the end of the decade.
The Government also announced a “reformed” clean heat market mechanism – delayed by the previous government – for April 2025, requiring 6% of sales by boiler manufacturers to be heat pumps or for them to pay a charge for each missed installation.
It said the new version of the scheme, with the charge reduced from £3,000 to £500 for the first year with consultation on further years, would give manufacturers – who pushed back against what they called the “boiler tax” – the time they need to scale up supply chains.
And there would be Government support for every heat pump installation that is required under the mechanism in 2025/2026, officials added.
