A pay-monthly heat pump plan could be launched to make the eco-friendly boiler alternative more accessible to hard-pressed families.
The plans, being considered by the Government, would allow households to lease a costly pump for a period of time – with the option of renewing or replacing it at the end of the contract.
Ministers are also looking at whether families should be able to spread the price of the devices – which cost upwards of £10,000 to install – over several years.
Households would pay for them in instalments, and own the heating equipment at the end of the contract.
Heat pumps use electricity to draw heat from the air or ground to warm homes and provide hot water. They are considered key to replacing gas boilers to reduce climate-harming emissions from homes, as well as cutting household bills which have soared in recent years.
square POLITICS Tony Blair blows a hole in Ed Miliband's net-zero plans
Read More
The new policies would aim to make it easier and more affordable for people to upgrade their heating and hot-water systems to a greener alternative.
An existing boiler upgrade scheme, which offers up to £7,500 off the cost of a heat pump, could also be expanded to include other green technologies.
Grants could be widened to cover a type of pump called an air-to-air heat pump, and to heat batteries, which store spare heat or electricity.
A Government consultation on the proposals was being launched on Wednesday with the aim of setting out options to make it simpler for people who want to shift to low-carbon.
Heat pumps are rising in popularity, with a record 4,028 applications for grants under the boiler upgrade scheme received in March – up 88 per cent on the same month last year, according to Government figures.
But the upfront cost is stark, even with the £7,500 grant. According to British Gas, heat pump boilers start at around £8,000 and cost an additional £6,000 to install.
Ministers were also setting out plans to train up to 18,000 more home retrofitters to install heat pumps, insulation, solar panels and heat networks.
More than £4m will be invested into the production of compressors – a key component of heat pumps.
Charlotte Lee, chief executive of the Heat Pump Association, welcomed the announcement and said the funding to support installation training would help to “make clean heating solutions an accessible option for more consumers”.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, minister for energy consumers, said: “Following a record-breaking month for applications to our Boiler Upgrade Scheme, we are now proposing to give working families more choice and flexibility to pick the low-carbon upgrades that work best for them.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Heat pumps ‘pay monthly’ plan to make them more affordable )
Also on site :
- Global March to Gaza activists report delays, deportations at Cairo Airport
- ‘She lit up the classroom’: First British victims of Air India plane crash named after 241 killed
- What nuclear sites does Iran have and where are they?