'Third way' of heating homes can help make UK properties more sustainable: Nick Coad

This ‘third way’ of heating the UK’s homes gives homeowners a different choice – and as the nature of our housing stock makes the switch to full heat pump systems difficult for many homes – it is also an important option that would drive the decarbonisation of home heating in the UK and allow homeowners time to invest in other energy saving measures such as insulation.

It can also save money on energy bills. In many ways, hybrid systems offer the best of both worlds – the energy efficiency and reduced running costs associated with heat pumps, but the assurance that comes with gas-fired heating if the mercury drops below a certain point.

Hybrid systems are essentially like a conventional heating system featuring a gas boiler, central heating and pipework to supply hot water, but also have a small heat pump attached.

Most of the time, the heat pump – which runs on electricity – keeps the water warm in the radiators and the system will automatically vary the water temperature in the radiators depending on the outside temperature.

But if the outside air temperature drops to a point at which the heat pump would struggle, the boiler kicks in instead.

And the hybrid control system automatically selects the cheapest and most efficient energy source based on the current tariff.

While hybrid systems are a little more expensive than conventional gas heating to buy, and still use the gas boiler to provide hot water, for most homes they will be considerably cheaper to purchase and install than heat pump-only alternatives.

And there is also the benefit that hybrids are easier for the installer to size properly, meaning that heating engineers who spend most of their time dealing with gas-fired heating will need as little as a day’s training to be able to fit hybrids too.

For homeowners, hybrids can typically be ‘retrofitted’ onto existing central heating and plumbing systems, often with no need to change radiators or add to insulation, significantly reducing disruption on installation.

Many householders and landlords want to switch from gas but are put off by the purchase and installation costs of heat pumps, and concerns about whether their homes will stay warm.

Hybrids are an ideal bridging technology to sustainable home heating that the UK has been waiting for.

In time all heating systems will use fully sustainable heating sources, and gas boilers will be phased out in the UK as the country transitions to more sustainable forms of heating.

In the meantime, hybrid systems can be an important part of achieving the scale of transition that the Government has set in motion. They offer a new alternative for people wanting to take a step into renewable heating and reduce their energy bills, without losing the reliability and familiarity of the gas boiler.

Nick Coad is Head of ESG for the heating and cooling merchant Wolseley Group