The campaign for people to switch their homes from gas central heating to electricity-powered heat pumps is currently among the most contentious aspects of the Government’s climate policy.
Heat pumps take heat from the air or the ground, instead of using gas, one of the most carbon-intensive ways to heat homes.
They are more costly to install than a typical gas boiler, as they may require putting in larger radiators or better insulation, but can repay the investment over time through cheaper energy bills. But they have detractors, including those who are concerned heat pumps do not keep homes as warm or are sceptical about the need to reach net zero carbon emissions.
Now, some MPs have highlighted concerns following a report on the plan to put a heat pump in the Parliament building, Portcullis House.
Yes, heat pumps can be fitted into older, larger homes
Read MoreAccording to The Telegraph, the report recommended air source heat pumps for Portcullis House, but said the “most prominent risk” was acoustics and the power supply. “Although we recommend the air source heat pumps, we would strongly advise caution and suggest that alternate power sources be explored,” said the report, by energy consultants Troup Bywaters and Anders.
Some MPs claimed the Government was hypocritical in trying to persuade home owners to have a heating system when there are doubts over using it in Parliament buildings.
Here, The i Paper takes a look at how the claims from the report and MPs stack up:
The most common kind of this technology, known as air-source heat pumps, emit noise in the range of 40 to 60 decibels (dBA). This is about the same range as a typical gas boiler, or dishwasher, although in cold weather a heat pump will be nearly always running.
Unlike a gas boiler, though, a heat pump unit is installed outside, usually next to the house, and so there are rules about how near it can be to neighbouring properties. A heat pump cannot be installed if noise levels would be more than 42 dBA within 1 metre of the neighbour’s home.
Decibel levels fall quickly with distance and so are unlikely to be a problem with semi-detached houses, but can be with terraced houses, which tend to have narrower gardens, said Bean Beanland, a director of the Heat Pump Federation.
But installers can calculate likely noise levels during their initial survey of a home. “We would go and visit someone’s site, talk to them about what the options were, and say where could we put it?” said Beanland.
Verdict: Unclear
Portcullis House may be getting a heat pump (Photo: Ray Wise/Getty Images/Moment RF)Claim: Heat pumps use too much power
While the plan for Portcullis House is up in the air, Parliament has already installed three heat pumps in other locations although it is not clear where.
Reform MP Richard Tice told The Telegraph that “every one of them has faced complaints for consuming too much electricity and generating excessive noise”.
This is a difficult claim to investigate without seeing the electricity bills for the three existing heat pumps, separated from the estate’s other electricity use. Heat pumps use electricity to take heat from the air or ground, and so naturally they will cause a higher electricity bill. “That’s not news,” said Dr Jan Rosenow, an energy researcher at the University of Oxford.
But equally, they cause a home to have a lower gas bill. When heat pump installation is coupled with homes switching to smart electricity tariffs – where power costs less in non-peak periods – they could save people £234 a year, power company Octopus Energy has calculated, based on current electricity and gas prices.
How long it would take for the heat pump to pay for itself depends on the cost of the initial installation. It also hinges on how much electricity prices change in future. At the moment they are being artificially inflated by green tariffs, but a government that wants to incentivise people to switch from gas to heat pumps may reconsider such tariffs, say heat pump proponents.
Verdict: False
Claim: Heat pumps are not effective
The concerns highlighted in the new report for Portcullis House are “a prime example that highlights why heat pumps don’t work. Yet Labour plough on trying to force people to buy them, making them poorer and colder,” Conservative MP Greg Smith told the Telegraph.
Heat pumps have been criticised for failing to heat homes well enough. The systems do circulate water through radiators at a lower temperature than gas boilers – around 50C instead of 70C – but this can be compensated for by having the pumps running for more of the day, and by installing larger radiators and better insulation if necessary.
Proponents of heat pumps say they do not lead to cold homes often and when this does happen, it is due to the installer failing to build in adequate compensations like larger radiators. The Heat Pump Association advises people to use only certified installers.
The broader issue of effectiveness at a large office building like Portcullis House has no bearing on decisions by homeowners, said Dr Rosenow. Every house is different, and home owners can only know whether a heat pump would be suitable after advice from an installer.
But Dr Rosenow added: “There are plenty of very old, large public buildings that are heated with heat pumps all over the world. So there’s no technical reason why you couldn’t make it work.
Verdict: False
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