They’ll just raise taxes elsewhere like what they are doing with vape liquid.
>“Consumer choice has to be at the heart of a Conservative, free-market approach to Net Zero,”
It’s not really a choice though if consumers can’t afford anything other than the cheapest option. We need the government to offer interest free loans for heat pumps because the ROI on them is too much for most people to make that investment, even if it will eventually save them money (and save the planet and make the country more energy secure).
This government heat pump idea looks like it’s going to turn into the next diesel scandal. When lots of people have them and we have a really bad winter and they can’t keep warm the proverbial is going to hit the fan.
We have a tiny garden with three huge waste bins in it already – sticking a heat pump there would use the last bit of space we can sit in in the Summer.
Until someone can tell me how in a 1st floor flat with no outdoor space i can have a heatpump boilers are going to be necessary
Heat pumps are a waste of money right now, they cost more than boilers, electricity is 4x the price of gas, and they need to be on 24/7, and most homes aren’t insulated well enough.
Gas central heating, gas boiler, and gas cooker. Gas dryer for extra points. Nothing else matches those.
Incidentally this kind of thinking is the reason why our railways are shit. While every country was moving to diesel, we were still using coal because it was cheaper right up until 1968. This means we started 10, 15 or 20 years behind every other developed country in moving to the next technology.
I think sadly we’re doing the same again with fossil fuel transition. Our politicians reckon it is good enough for the unwashed masses, so they have no interest in the opportunities new technology is offering us.
In many ways this is is a perfect example of most Tory “green policies” since the time of Dave “hug a husky” Cameron.
Not merely just that it was both fairly ill conceived in at least a couple of ways and inadequate in the face of the challenge facing humanity. What I’m thinking of more is that it was cancelled before it actually got implemented.
That’s become kind of the ‘signature move’ of the Conservatives when it comes to environmental policy: announce it with a huge media hoopla – get maximum use out of it to argue their ‘green credentials’ and deflect criticism and gull the part of the electorate that don’t read past the headlines.
But then six months to a year or so later as quietly as possible cancel it. (Ideally when there’s lots of other stuff happening in the news) Or fail to fund it. Or don’t give it any actual legislative teeth. Whatever approach is used it’s all about the big announcement and posturing but actually doing bugger all.
And sad to say it works. Amoungst the electorate (and even here sometimes) you’ll find people taken in by it and sincerely arguing that they believe the Tories have actually turned over a new leaf on Environmental issues.
They have opened the loot box now, doubt manufacturers will put prices down even when they do scrap this, its an opportunity for more profit, hope i’m proved wrong
Short term and easy decision making seems to be a hallmark of the Tories.
Good news for the common man
Bad news for the zealots.
No one is going to want a heat pump while electricity is this expensive. The current cap is 7p/kWh for gas or 29p/kWh for electricity. Heat pumps are ~3x as efficient as gas boilers (according to the BBC in 2023), so you’re paying ~10p/kWh-equivalent, or ~40% more than gas.
So, you’ve got to spend a huge amount to install one and either tear up the garden or have a noisy and bulky fan, I assume the maintenance costs are higher as they have more moving parts and fewer people service them, you need more insulation to make them work in the first place, and after all that your monthly fuel bill is higher than before.
The only scenario they seem to make financial sense is if you can benefit from timed electricity tariffs (directly or via battery storage charged off-peak) or if you have solar, but solar production is lowest in the winter when you need the electricity for heat.
you would be better off with proper air conditioning (can heat/cool) than the stupid heat pump – radiator circuit bullshit.
I’m a builder,the amount of people I know that have had heat pumps installed hate them.house is freezing,one woman can’t even sit in her dining room and has to go in the living room to eat her food and light fire
14 comments
They’ll just raise taxes elsewhere like what they are doing with vape liquid.
>“Consumer choice has to be at the heart of a Conservative, free-market approach to Net Zero,”
It’s not really a choice though if consumers can’t afford anything other than the cheapest option. We need the government to offer interest free loans for heat pumps because the ROI on them is too much for most people to make that investment, even if it will eventually save them money (and save the planet and make the country more energy secure).
This government heat pump idea looks like it’s going to turn into the next diesel scandal. When lots of people have them and we have a really bad winter and they can’t keep warm the proverbial is going to hit the fan.
We have a tiny garden with three huge waste bins in it already – sticking a heat pump there would use the last bit of space we can sit in in the Summer.
Until someone can tell me how in a 1st floor flat with no outdoor space i can have a heatpump boilers are going to be necessary
Heat pumps are a waste of money right now, they cost more than boilers, electricity is 4x the price of gas, and they need to be on 24/7, and most homes aren’t insulated well enough.
Gas central heating, gas boiler, and gas cooker. Gas dryer for extra points. Nothing else matches those.
Incidentally this kind of thinking is the reason why our railways are shit. While every country was moving to diesel, we were still using coal because it was cheaper right up until 1968. This means we started 10, 15 or 20 years behind every other developed country in moving to the next technology.
I think sadly we’re doing the same again with fossil fuel transition. Our politicians reckon it is good enough for the unwashed masses, so they have no interest in the opportunities new technology is offering us.
In many ways this is is a perfect example of most Tory “green policies” since the time of Dave “hug a husky” Cameron.
Not merely just that it was both fairly ill conceived in at least a couple of ways and inadequate in the face of the challenge facing humanity. What I’m thinking of more is that it was cancelled before it actually got implemented.
That’s become kind of the ‘signature move’ of the Conservatives when it comes to environmental policy: announce it with a huge media hoopla – get maximum use out of it to argue their ‘green credentials’ and deflect criticism and gull the part of the electorate that don’t read past the headlines.
But then six months to a year or so later as quietly as possible cancel it. (Ideally when there’s lots of other stuff happening in the news) Or fail to fund it. Or don’t give it any actual legislative teeth. Whatever approach is used it’s all about the big announcement and posturing but actually doing bugger all.
And sad to say it works. Amoungst the electorate (and even here sometimes) you’ll find people taken in by it and sincerely arguing that they believe the Tories have actually turned over a new leaf on Environmental issues.
They have opened the loot box now, doubt manufacturers will put prices down even when they do scrap this, its an opportunity for more profit, hope i’m proved wrong
Short term and easy decision making seems to be a hallmark of the Tories.
Good news for the common man
Bad news for the zealots.
No one is going to want a heat pump while electricity is this expensive. The current cap is 7p/kWh for gas or 29p/kWh for electricity. Heat pumps are ~3x as efficient as gas boilers (according to the BBC in 2023), so you’re paying ~10p/kWh-equivalent, or ~40% more than gas.
So, you’ve got to spend a huge amount to install one and either tear up the garden or have a noisy and bulky fan, I assume the maintenance costs are higher as they have more moving parts and fewer people service them, you need more insulation to make them work in the first place, and after all that your monthly fuel bill is higher than before.
The only scenario they seem to make financial sense is if you can benefit from timed electricity tariffs (directly or via battery storage charged off-peak) or if you have solar, but solar production is lowest in the winter when you need the electricity for heat.
you would be better off with proper air conditioning (can heat/cool) than the stupid heat pump – radiator circuit bullshit.
I’m a builder,the amount of people I know that have had heat pumps installed hate them.house is freezing,one woman can’t even sit in her dining room and has to go in the living room to eat her food and light fire