The future of heating has in recent years been difficult to follow for many people not in the industry, with the constant changes, evolutions of policies and development of technology leading to confusion, fear, uncertainty and doubt.
There has been a lot of information distributed that is missing context or outright incorrect, and the sheer amount of different interpretations of the same policies even amongst the industry heads who have the power to shape the future of heating has led to customers lost in the middle and in the shuffle.
For example, there is no reason why someone who is in the market for a boiler upgrade cannot buy a new, efficient gas boiler, have it installed by a professional and use it for the rest of its operating life. The policies surrounding green energy at present will not require homeowners to replace perfectly functional boilers.
This is one of the biggest myths surrounding the future of heating, but it is far from the only one, and in the interest of helping customers understand their options, here are some of the most common myths circulating right now about boilers, gas and the future of heating.
The Future Will Have Many Different Options
Part of the problem with media portrayals of modern heating solutions is there is an implication that there will be only one heating solution available between efficient boilers using gas, hydrogen or a blend of both, or electric boilers and heat pumps.
In reality, as there is today, the path to green heating will be made up of a variety of different heating options. Heat pumps will be popular for new builds and larger complexes where district heating can be organised at scale, but are less likely to be widely retrofitted if it means significant installation costs.
Meanwhile, hydrogen will not become the standard for heating until there is a wide adoption of boilers that are either designed to use hydrogen gas exclusively or can be modified to safely use hydrogen, so there will be a period of transition where small amounts of hydrogen are mixed with natural gas.
Modern Boilers Can Already Support Hydrogen Blends
There is some confusion surrounding hydrogen-ready boilers and when they would actually need to be introduced were the UK to adopt hydrogen gas blends into the National Gas Grid.
Unless you have a particularly old boiler, your current boiler is likely to be able to handle a blend of natural gas and hydrogen, with mixes incorporating up to 20 per cent hydrogen able to be processed by a modern boiler without any noticeable changes besides the price.
This is similar to how many petrol and diesel pumps use a mix of fossil fuels and biofuels. Most cars made after the year 2000 are capable of using biofuel mixes and it is a similar story with natural gas and hydrogen.
How a “hydrogen-ready” boiler would differ from a modern combi boiler is that the former can be easily modified by a professional to use 100 per cent hydrogen gas whilst the latter might need more substantial upgrading to reach the same point.
People Will Not Need To Throw Away Working Boilers
The crux of a lot of the discussion surrounding the future of heat is the idea that people who have recently bought a new boiler would only get a few years of use out of it before they would be legally required to replace it. This is simply not the case for a few reasons.
The first is that the so-called “boiler ban” that was set to begin being rolled out in 2025 would only have initially affected newly built homes and later the installation of new boilers in existing homes.
At no point would anyone be forced to remove their existing boiler from their home.
Even with this, the planned start date of the “boiler ban” was moved back a decade, although exactly when or if it would occur will depend on a wide range of factors far removed from the world of boilers.
The second point is that the earliest a decision would be made on the use of hydrogen at all is in 2026, no rollout of hydrogen would be expected until 2028 at the absolute earliest and most likely long after that, and as noted above this would be a 20 per cent blend a modern combi boiler could handle.
By the time the UK would switch to 100 per cent hydrogen, unlikely to take place for another two decades, any boilers bought today would be aged out of use regardless and switched to a 100 per cent hydrogen boiler.
The National Gas Grid Will Not Need Replacing
One worry that has been voiced about hydrogen is that it would be impossible to transport via the existing system of pipelines that make up the National Grid, but that does not appear to be correct in the slightest, at least in Britain and Europe.
The only place where it may have caused issues pre-2000 was in some iron pipes that had not been upgraded, but since 2000 they have been replaced by perfectly joined polythene pipes ideal for distributing hydrogen.
This means that, if the time comes to switch to hydrogen entirely, the country’s infrastructure is in a strong position to handle it.
Replacing Your Boiler Can Save You Money
The reason for hesitation is that people are worried that they will make a major investment only to find that they have to replace it again, for reasons that have been debunked above.
Replacing a boiler could save you considerable amounts of money depending on how old your existing boiler is. Boilers will decrease in efficiency over time, especially if they are not regularly maintained and cleaned, and this combined with refinements of the technology can lead to big savings over its lifespan.
If you want to reduce the amount of gas you use and therefore your average energy bills, one of the most cost-effective actions you can take right now is to arrange for an inspection of your existing boiler to see if it requires an upgrade.