How we heat our homes

Most of us currently use fossil fuel boilers to heat our homes and we need to replace the majority of these with low-carbon alternatives. While emissions from producing and using electricity have drastically reduced over the last decade, emissions from home heating have barely changed.

According to the Climate Change Committee, to meet the UK’s climate targets, we need to have replaced almost all fossil fuel boilers by 2050. The Climate Change Committee’s net zero pathway estimates that by 2030, heat pump sales need to reach just over 1 million per year in new and existing homes.

• Home heating is responsible for 13-14% of the UK’s carbon emissions. Source: A guide to the decarbonisation of heat in the UK – Catapult
• The average UK gas boiler emits more carbon emissions in a year than taking seven transatlantic flights. Gas or oil boilers are among the single most polluting items most households own. Source: A gas boiler emits more annual CO2 than seven transatlantic flights – Nesta

• Over the next 25 years, we will move away from heating our homes with gas and oil boilers. Source: The Sixth Carbon Budget – The CCC

• Heat pumps are the leading low-carbon technology for replacing boilers in homes. Source: A policy plan for decarbonising Homes – Nesta
• Heat pumps can be powered by electricity generated by the wind and the sun – which doesn’t produce carbon emissions. Heat pumps are very efficient. They use a lot less electricity than other types of electric heating, for example, storage heaters or electric boilers. Source: The Sixth Carbon Budget – The CCC
• Heat pumps will work in all homes, subject to space constraints, and are ideal for the UK climate. Source: All housing types are suitable for heat pumps, finds Electrification of Heat project – Catapult

• Some blocks of flats and urban areas may use heat networks to heat their homes. This is where a large heat pump, or other low-carbon heating source, heats lots of homes through shared pipes. Source: Consumers must be the “central pillar” of heat network regulation – Catapult

• Hydrogen boilers are not widely regarded as a viable option for home heating. Given the uncertainty about hydrogen use at scale for home heating, it is likely that a boiler bought today or in the near future will run predominantly or entirely on natural gas for at least a significant proportion, if not all, of its lifetime. It is unlikely that a gas boiler bought today will ever be converted to use hydrogen in its lifetime. Source: Consumer protection in the green heating and insulation sector – Competition & Markets Authority