The existing ban on gas boilers in favor of heat pumps will be scrapped if the Labor Party wins the general election, Shadow Energy Minister Ed Miliband has said.
Heat pumps are considered a viable option to reduce energy bills and achieve Net Zero targets. Currently, the Conservative-led government has pledged to phase out traditional boilers with eco-friendly appliances, despite concerns over installation costs.
Earlier this year, Energy Minister Claire Coutinho confirmed that the planned ban on gas boilers on new-build homes would be postponed from 2025 to 2035, angering climate change campaigners.
However, Labor appears to have gone a step further and scrapped the proposed ban in its entirety, as families continue to struggle with the ongoing cost of living crisis.
However, Miliband has pledged his hope to decarbonise Britain’s energy supply by rolling out more onshore wind turbines in the UK.
Almost all the heat generated to keep Brits warm comes from traditional gas boilers installed in 25 million homes and oil-powered alternatives fitted in up to a million surplus ones.
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The shadow cabinet minister said Labor remains committed to the rollout of heat pumps in homes, but noted that a future government will need to do more to convince families it is a worthwhile investment.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “On home heating – as we said in our manifesto – no one will be forced to take out their boiler. We are absolutely clear about that. We have not met the government’s 2035 target. when you cannot replace your gas boiler.
“I know we have to show that heat pumps are affordable and will work for people. For many people, including me, heat pumps already work. I have a heat pump and a battery, but it has to work economically for everyone.
“We’ve been through a cost of living crisis, we’re still going through a cost of living crisis. So we can’t do this in a way that means that ordinary people end up paying more for this. And that’s what our government, when we’re in power, will be absolutely focused on.”
While Labor is not sticking to the current government’s timetable for a ban on gas boilers, Miliband praised the Tories for introducing the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to help install heat pumps in thousands of homes.
Under this initiative, households can apply for grants to support heat pumps and biomass boilers installed in their homes and residential buildings in England and Wales.
Currently, installers can apply for the following amounts of support, with £450 million of funding earmarked for the scheme between 2022 and 2025:
- £7,500 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump
- £7,500 discount on the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump, including water heat pumps
- £5,000 off the cost and installation of a biomass boiler.
Miliband added: “I’ll be honest, I think one good thing the current government did, alongside some bad things, was to increase the subsidy for heat pumps to £7,500.
“The use of our heat pumps is absolutely miserable compared to other countries. We want to make it economically worthwhile for people who work with the private sector to actually install heat pumps.”
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The government wants 600,000 heat pumps to be installed annually by 2028FATHERHouseholds have been forced to contend with historically high energy bills due to the cost of living crisis
However, Ofgem’s energy price cap will fall to £1,568 per year between July 1 and September 30, 2024 for an average household using electricity and gas and paying by direct debit.
This is £122 lower than the limit set at £1,690 between April 1 and June 30, 2024.
Nevertheless, energy costs are expected to rise again later this year, in the winter months.