Households with gas boilers face higher bills and extra charges

HOUSEHOLDS with gas boilers could pay more for their bills and face higher charges in a bid to get Brits to switch to greener alternatives.

It comes as the government considers banning gas boilers from 2035 to help make homes more eco-friendly and tackle the climate crisis.

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The government could look at slapping Brits who have dirty boilers with higher bills and charges from the mid-2020s, according to The Times, so that Brits who switch aren’t penalised by higher costs.

The plans are expected to be outlined next month in the upcoming Heat and Building Strategy paper, and households could be paying up to £100 more a year, according to the reports.

Plans to slap households who still have gas boilers with “financial penalties” has previously been considered by the government.

While gas boilers are set to be banned in all new-build homes from 2023 – which is two years earlier than planned.

However, concerns have been raised that low income families will not be able to afford the changes. 

More than half of Brits say they cannot afford heat pumps which are likely to replace gas boilers.

At the moment, replacing a gas boiler can set households back an average of £10,000.

But firms believe this will drop to £5,500 in 18months as demand rises and more eco-heat pumps are made.

The Sun also revealed last month that households could get another five years to help them save to axe their boilers amid backlash against spiralling costs.

However, Brits are set to get as much as £7,000 to help them ditch their gas boilers for greener alternatives. 

Clean Heats Grants are set to relaunch next April offering £4,000 to help them switch – but reports suggest that this could be increased to at least £7,000.

And families won’t be fined for failing to switch for for another 15 years.

A BEIS spokesperson said: “Over the next 15 years, we will incentivise households to switch to lower carbon, more efficient heating systems as people come to replace their fossil fuel boilers.

“Our entire approach will be to keep energy bills low and ensure this gradual transition away from gas boilers is fair and affordable for consumers and the taxpayer.”

News of rising costs in the future for gas boiler households will come as another blow to millions of families’ finances.

Energy bills are set to rise by a record £139 a year for 11million Brits after regulator Ofgem increased the price cap for gas and electricity to £1,277 from £1,138.

The bill hikes will take place on October 1, and will be the highest since the cap launched in January 2019.

How would a gas boiler ban affect you?

If plans to ban gas boilers go ahead, then you will have to switch to a greener alternative.

There are a number of different ways to “decarbonise” heating.

One option is scrapping gas boilers and instead using a heat network that pumps hot water and air through pipes to warm homes.

Another idea is to just use electricity to warm homes.

Some households are already electricity-only, using storage heaters instead of radiators to heat their property.

Ofgem said last year it could also look at different ways to making homes electric, such as by using electricity to power heat pumps.

Lastly, gas boilers could be upgraded to work with decarbonised gas, such as hydrogen.

Low-carbon heat pumps and networks could add £5,000 to the cost of a new-build, due to often involving underfloor heating and larger radiators.

While simply replacing a gas boiler could cost between £500 and £2,500.

However, replacing a gas boiler with an air source heat pump could save homeowners in a four-bed house £1,300 a year on their heating bills, according to Rated People.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk