Why the heat pump hard sell is a load of hot air: Energy firms blitz homeowners with dubious claims

The heat pump hard sell is well and truly under way, Money Mail can reveal. 

In recent weeks, some energy companies have begun bombarding customers with messages imploring them to install an air source heat pump and save on their energy bills.

Such pumps, typically fitted to a home’s back wall, use air sucked in from outside, plus a refrigerant liquid and a compressor, to generate hot water and heat for the home.

Although the pumps can be noisy and rather unsightly, this is not silencing those in the business of selling them. Far from it. Their sales pitch is reminiscent of those used by timeshare sharks in Tenerife — over the top and full of hot air.

‘The future of heating.’ ‘Low maintenance.’ ‘Reliable heating and hot water all year round.’ ‘Save £385 a year on your energy bill.’

Shabby: Heat pumps are typically fitted to a home’s back wall and use air sucked in from outside, plus a refrigerant liquid and a compressor, to generate hot water and heat 

Attractive selling points, all made in mailings or messages recently sent to customers of one energy company. But not all the claims stand up to close scrutiny.

Yesterday, Money Mail asked Mike Foster, CEO of energy trade association the Energy and Utilities Alliance, to cast his eye over them.

This was his damning verdict: ‘Gas boilers are as reliable as a heat pump in providing hot water and heat. 

A combi gas boiler also produces instantaneous hot water with no need for a hot water tank, so it is arguably a better option for consumers.

‘We would always advise that heating systems are serviced regularly to maximise their efficiency. 

A heat pump service takes twice as long as that of a gas boiler, making it twice as expensive. Heat pumps also have an outside unit, which makes them susceptible to damage and theft.

‘As for the £385 saving claim, it is frankly outrageous. Whoever is using that should put their money where their mouth is and guarantee it to the consumer in a contract. If they won’t, that tells you all you need to know about its validity.’

Of course, the pithy messages from energy companies aim to encourage us to rip out our planet-destroying oil and gas boilers and climb on the heat pump bandwagon.

And they stem from the Government’s determination to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

As a result, it has decided no new fossil fuel-guzzling gas boilers can be installed after 2035 (2025 in the case of new homes). 

By doing away with gas boilers and relying on heat pumps that are electricity-dependent, we will not only save ourselves money but be saving the planet as well — or so their theory goes.

Some experts, working for energy companies, have even started talking about heat pumps using phrases such as ‘basically magic’ to describe their transformative impact on household energy bills. Alas, this is utter balderdash.

The mega-hype swirling around heat pumps is reminiscent of that which has surrounded smart meters for the past 15 years. 

Crackdown: No new fossil fuel-guzzling gas boilers can be installed after 2035 – or 2025 in the case of new homes.

The smart meter programme has cost an arm and a leg to introduce (£13.5 billion and counting), has been plagued with problems (some smart meters turning dumb) and is years behind schedule. A proverbial dog’s dinner.

Now, some believe the bigging up of the heat pump by a motley combination of vested parties — Government, energy suppliers and salesmen — is heading the same way. A dog’s dinner to end all dog’s dinners.

In a nutshell, the Government’s objective to get households to install heat pumps ahead of the banning of new gas boiler installations from 2035 is not going to work. 

Not even if it continues to bribe homeowners with four-figure grants to get a heat pump. And not even if companies repeatedly bang the hard-sell drum.

Currently, under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, grants of £5,000 are available to households in England and Wales that install an air source heat pump — £6,000 if a more costly ground or water source pump is chosen. 

These grants will be available until at least 2028 (Scotland has its own grants system). 

Sceptics believe the Government’s aim to get 600,000 heat pumps a year installed by 2028 is pie-in-the-sky thinking (some 55,000 were purchased by households last year). It just isn’t going to happen. And for many reasons.

Mr Foster is emphatic about the financial merits of heat pumps — they are minimal.

He says: ‘Heat pumps are effective in homes that are well-insulated and when they have been installed correctly. They are also good for those who want to reduce their carbon footprint.’

But — and it’s a BIG but — he says these pluses come at a massive cost to the consumer, in the shape of an upfront bill of £13,000 for an air source pump, closer to £30,000 for a ground source pump [costs before the grants are applied].

Grants of £5,000 are available to households that install an air source heat pump – £6,000 if a costly ground or water source pump

And, he adds, the pumps will not save households any money in terms of lower bills. This is primarily because electricity currently costs nearly four times as much as gas — which negates the energy efficiency of a heat pump over a gas boiler.

In other words, the extra energy a heat pump generates to heat a home is insufficient to offset the higher unit cost of electricity. Currently, electricity costs 30p per kilowatt hour, compared with 8p for gas.

Mr Foster claims a piece of research funded by the Government to gauge the efficiency of the technology has so far indicated that half of participating homeowners ended up paying more for their energy by converting to heat pumps.

He also says homeowners often face additional costs when a heat pump is linked to the local power supply. In some instances — for example, where a footpath or road has to be dug up — the household will have to pay a four-figure sum of up to £6,000. 

In the worst case, someone with an off-grid oil heating system that breaks down after January 2026 could face a triple financial whammy.

First, they could be forced to replace it with a heat pump (new off-grid oil boilers look likely to be banned from the start of 2026). Then, they could face an additional bill to link the pump to the grid, plus a wait of up to 14 weeks while the connection is made.

‘The people foisting heat pumps on us believe they are the answer to all our prayers,’ says Mr Foster. ‘But they ignore the reality of the times we live in. Most households just don’t have £13,000 spare to buy a heat pump — and even if they do, I imagine most would prioritise other matters, such as keeping the money in the bank.’

Stuart Hatch shares Mr Foster’s views. He was a renewables business consultant for 15 years, heavily involved in the design, manufacture and installation of heat pumps. More recently, he joined renewable energy contractor Ecolution as chief commercial officer.

Although Mr Hatch says heat pumps are ‘perfectly fine’, he argues that they are not the be-all and end-all. ‘There is not one heating technology that is best in

class,’ he says. ‘Nor are heat pumps suitable for all properties.’

For example, he says many homes have insufficient space at the back for a pump, which must be sited no more than a metre from the boundary wall and farther from a neighbour’s window. 

Some have no space for a water cylinder, while others are too draughty for pumps to work properly.

He adds: ‘More pertinently, whatever claims are being made, a heat pump won’t save you money, especially if it is poorly installed and the home is inadequately insulated. Until there is a levelling in gas and electricity prices, the maths work horribly against the case for heat pumps.’

Paul Yeatman, boss of Dorset-based renewable energy specialist Power Naturally, says the blanket pushing of heat pumps is ‘mistaken’.

‘Heat pumps are not magic bullets,’ he adds. ‘I would say they are only appropriate for 20 per cent of homes.’

Mr Yeatman believes ‘district heating’ — one big heat pump providing heat and hot water to hundreds of homes — may be a better long-term alternative — but only if the National Grid could cope. ‘The grid would be on its knees if the Government got its way and converted the nation to heat pumps,’ he says.

The last word goes to Michael Blackmore, a retired GP from Midhurst, West Sussex. He says: ‘Sadly, vested interests and ill-informed politicians will continue to push heat pumps down our throats. 

‘They will do so while simultaneously pushing for electric cars — ignoring the warning from National Grid that unless electricity consumption is constrained this winter, the nation’s lights might go out.’

Madness. Utter madness.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk