The government announced a £10m boost to the Heat Pump Ready programme this week, alongside bigger grants for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) and a new energy efficiency campaign for homes.
The Heat Pump Ready funding aims develop solutions that:
- Improve the ease of heat pump deployment in homes that are ‘complex to decarbonise’ by addressing physical, material, locational, technological, regulatory, or social challenges
- Develop innovative solutions to enable heat pumps to be deployed in ‘distress purchase’ situations when a new home heating system is required urgently
- Improve performance and/or reduce costs of domestic heat pumps with low-GWP refrigerants (below 150 GWP), while ensuring safety
- Reduce the lifetime costs or improve the overall lifetime performance of domestic heat pumps or improve the domestic consumer experience of using and living with a heat pump
BUS grants for heat pump installation have increased from £5 to £7.5k and the scheme has also been extended by three years to 2028. The Welcome Home to Energy Efficiency campaign aims to help people lower their bills over the winter.
Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said:
No one should have to choose between cutting costs and cutting emissions – our pragmatic approach means we can continue to deliver on our ambitious net zero targets without unfairly hitting the pockets of hardworking families.
From today, for some households starting prices for heat pumps could now be below the average gas boiler, as we have increased the cash grant by 50% to £7,500 – making our scheme one of the most generous in Europe.
This will help thousands of people across the country reduce their energy use and keep their homes warm.
Organisations can now apply for a share of the latest round of the Heat Pump Ready programme, which will support innovation projects that would make heat pumps cheaper, quicker or easier to install and would improve the customer experience of using a heat pump.
More info here: Net Zero Innovation Portfolio’s Heat Pump Ready programme.
