Going Green: Government grants available for alternative heating but are heat pumps the answer?

Green Green campaigner and consumer expert, Angela Terry, separates climate change facts from fiction and explains how you can take simple, practical steps to help save the planet. Follow @ouronehome & visithttps://onehome.org.uk/ for more advice.

Q. Can I apply for the government’s heat pump grant and is it worth it?

A. The answer to the first part is yes.

That is if you're a homeowner in England and Wales and your home has a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that's been issued in the last ten years - and no outstanding recommendations for loft or wall insulation

Then you can apply to receive a £5,000 grant towards the installation of an air source heat pump or £6,000 for a ground source heat pump (which costs more due to the necessary groundworks).

As to whether or not it’s worth it, here are things to consider:

Do they work?

Yes! Heat pumps are proven technology. Norway, where average temperatures are colder than ours, has the highest number of them per capital in Europe.

Like a fridge in reverse, they extract heat from the air or the ground – whichever is more efficient considering the kind of property and its location – and then compress the refrigerant to generate more heat. For one unit of electricity used they produce three units of heat, so they are good for the environment.

Is your home ready?

Heat pumps don’t provide the same blasts of heat as boilers. When it’s cold you leave them on for longer.

They work slowly and consistently. This means your heating system needs to be set up a bit differently. You tend to need larger radiators or underfloor heating.

You also need to ensure you properly insulate your home. Heat escapes from walls, roofs and windows, which is why the grant is only for those who’ve sorted out the basics.

Global warming

Environmentally, heat pumps are a great idea. Unlike burning gas, they don’t produce carbon dioxide, the main pollutant responsible for global warming. They use electricity instead, which is increasingly generated from wind and solar power.