Householders unaware of low-carbon alternatives
13th November 2024
UK: Almost half of UK consumers want to buy low-carbon heating solutions, but 73% fear they don’t know enough to make an informed purchase.
New research by Mitsubishi Electric reveals that while 49% of UK consumers want to buy low-carbon heating solutions, 18% of homeowners wrongly believe that gas boilers are the most sustainable home heating option, and only 25% think that heat pumps are the most environmentally friendly alternative available.
The research also found that cost remains a key barrier, with 39% of UK homeowners feeling that there is a lack of evidence of the long-term cost savings installing a heat pump could provide.
UK consumers still overwhelmingly rely on carbon-intensive home heating systems, and 79% use a gas boiler. Just 4% of homeowners use an air-source heat pump in their homes.
The report by Mitsubishi Electric and Censuswide is based on a survey of 2,025 UK homeowners conducted in July 2024.
The report insists that greater financial support would be the number one motivator for consumers to switch to a heat pump, with 44% wanting a funding grant to cover the cost of installing a new system in their building.
This desire for funding has already led to increasing domestic demand for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and, on the commercial front, progress in heat pump uptake is already being made, supported by schemes such as the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
“It is evident that the cost of running a heat pump is one of the biggest barriers to increased uptake in the UK, because of the price of electricity in comparison to gas,” said Russell Dean, Mitsubishi Electric Living Environment Systems’ deputy divisional manager.
“It’s been encouraging to see homeowners receive government schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme well. But we also need both the public and private sectors to continue to raise awareness of the benefits of heat pumps and to keep equipping installers with the skills to advise consumers on heat pumps as an option for home heating to see uptake continue to rise.”
The full report – Exploring the Financial Tipping Point – can be downloaded here.
