This is Britain on heat pumps: how a nationwide switch could help our planet

The Guardian

07-05-2025

Ryan Urquhart knows how to create a sustainable home. Drawing on his skills as a director of architectural and building consultants Baxter Design Company, he self-built the eco-friendly house he shares with his wife, Jemma, and their daughter, Miley, in Aberdeenshire. A key element was an air source heat pump, which was installed alongside underfloor heating, mechanical ventilation and a heat recovery system.
'Our NIBE system has been reliable, efficient and keeps us warm and comfortable throughout the year,' says Urquhart. 'We have been particularly impressed by how seamlessly our systems work together to provide both low-carbon heating and balanced ventilation, reducing energy consumption and minimising our energy costs.'
View image in fullscreen
Ryan Urquhart has installed a NIBE air source heat pump in his sustainable home
Urquhart is one of more than a quarter of a million home and small business owners who have recently installed a heat pump. Instead of burning fossil fuels, these systems efficiently use electricity and the refrigeration cycle to move heat from the air, ground or water into a building.
Lord Adair Turner, chair of the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), an international thinktank, and a heat pump owner, likens them to an air conditioner that works in reverse. 'Indeed, in a lot of the world the dominant technology is going to be the two-way air pump, which is used as an air conditioner in the summer and a heater in winter,' he says.
Sustainable home heating
If you switched to an air source heat pump in a semi-detached home with an old, G-rated gas boiler, you would save approximately 2,900kg of CO2 emissions a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust. That's equivalent to flying from Cardiff to Vancouver and back.
Given that home heating accounts for 18% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions, and with the country's net zero by 2050 commitment drawing ever nearer, it's clear that more homes need one.
In fact, the ETC's recent report on achieving zero-carbon buildings argues that heating can and should be almost entirely electrified, primarily with heat pumps. As the UK continues to decarbonise its electricity system, the amount of emissions saved will also only increase.
'It [the heat pump] is capable of being a decarbonised technology, because we can make electricity zero carbon in a way that we cannot make a gas boiler zero carbon,' Lord Turner says.
Heat pumps are also significantly more efficient than gas or oil boilers, producing three to five times more heat for every unit of electricity used. Almost 100,000 of them were sold in the UK in 2024 – a 63% increase from the previous year, including those with and without government subsidies. However, that's still a long way off the government's target of 600,000 installations annually by 2028.
Cost is an issue. Heat pumps are more expensive to buy and install than gas boilers – something the government is trying to address by offering grants of £7,500 through its boiler upgrade scheme to people in England and Wales (grants of between £7,500 and £9,000 are available in Scotland). The UK's high cost of electricity relative to gas may also have hindered sales somewhat.
Although high-temperature heat pumps can achieve output temperatures of up to 80C, owners of certain regular models whose homes are hard to heat may require backup heating when the weather is very cold. However, it is a myth that you need 'perfect' insulation to properly heat your home with a heat pump.
'A lot of people will find that a heat pump gives them adequate heat for the vast majority of days in the year, even if they have a relatively poorly insulated house,' says Lord Turner. 'There is still a strong argument for looking carefully at all the insulation options,' he adds, 'but as they say, don't make the best the enemy of the good.'
Heat pump owners helping the planet
As Urquhart's home was a self-build, he was able to include a range of modern insulation measures, including an insulated concrete framework (ICF). This consists of hollow blocks or panels made from insulating materials, which lock together to provide a formwork system that concrete is then poured into.
ICF holds heat throughout the day and releases it slowly at night, creating an almost igloo-like effect. This meant Urquhart could install a smaller heating system than he might otherwise have needed, keeping costs down during the build and reducing the family's energy bills to about £100 in the summer. 'The system also emits very little noise – becoming almost unnoticeable, even in the winter months,' he adds.
The entire project was inspired by his father, who self-built the home Urquhart grew up in, and who has in turn been inspired to install a heat pump in his property, situated just 300 yards away.
Oliver Roberts, another NIBE heat pump owner, who lives in Shropshire, describes it as a 'fit and forget' technology. 'I don't have to do anything to it, [there's] simple integration [and] ease of use on the myUplink app – you can see temperatures, energy logs.'
He feels that heat pumps are ultimately the future of heating. 'They're not to shy away from at all; they're to be embraced … there's the saving of the money, ease of use, dealer back up. There's nothing not to like about them.'
View image in fullscreen
Sean Cooper, who has heat pumps at home and at his business
Sean Cooper owns two residential heat pumps: an air source one at a property in Surrey, which replaced a gas boiler, and a water-source one at his Georgian home near Weymouth, which draws heat from a nearby river (it also helps to further counteract the effects of the climate crisis by cooling the river itself).
He has additionally installed an air source heat pump at his Weymouth restaurant, Catch at the Old Fish Market, which specialises in sustainable seafood and local produce. Installing a heat pump within the grade-II listed Old Fish Market, a historic harbourside building, wasn't without its challenges. 'The building is very difficult to insulate because of its listed status, but I didn't want that to stop us from approaching this from a pure sustainability standpoint,' he says.
A new first floor with a water heating system was added to the building. This is powered by a heat pump in a mezzanine area, and provides an ideal level of heat for seated diners. 'Its byproduct is cold air, which believe it or not is vented on to the cook line to keep the chefs cool,' says Cooper.
View image in fullscreen
Art teacher Emma Lewis
Cold spells of weather are no barrier to installing a heat pump. Emma Lewis, an art teacher and part-time abstract artist, wanted to improve the EPC rating of her stone cottage, which is situated 'in one of the most inclement parts of Yorkshire'.
'As electrification becomes more prevalent, we felt the need to switch to a more sustainable way of powering and heating our home,' she says. 'We were fortunate to benefit from the boiler upgrade scheme grant, and since the rise from £5,000 to £7,500 we decided to replace our ageing oil boiler with a high-temperature heat pump.'
She feels that everybody can ultimately contribute to improving the environment. 'The decision to have a heat pump felt like a logical step as we explored improving our home,' she says. 'We have removed the single largest contributor to our carbon footprint.'
NIBE combines smart technology with renewable energy to produce energy-efficient solutions for heating your home. Take a look at its full range of heat pumps