A new report from the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), shows that with efficient heat pumps, households can now save up to 27% on their heating bills compared to a gas boiler.
Following Ofgem’s price cap announcement earlier this year, domestic gas and electricity prices have risen dramatically, especially gas prices. As a result renewable heating technologies such as heat pumps are now much more competitive.Â
According to the report from RAP, an independent, non-governmental energy advisory organisation, heating with a gas boiler will cost households an average of £934 per year, up from £579. A very efficient heat pump will only cost £723 per year, up from £536 per year, leading to a potential saving of £261 per year.
A company representative stated:
“The figures are based on the coefficient of performance, or COP, a measure of the ratio of electricity used to the heat extracted from the environment. A COP of 3, for example, means that you get three units of heat from one unit of electricity. The data shows that, with a COP of about 3, a heat pump starts to become cheaper to run than a gas boiler, which in most cases runs at an efficiency of about 85%.“
“Field monitoring data for existing buildings shows that a COP of 3 is easily achieved
by air source heat pumps and 4 or above is possible for ground source heat pumps.”
The report can be viewed in full here.
