High Costs Putting People Off Heat Pumps: Watchdog

Uptake of heat pumps has been less than half that predicted under the government’s grant scheme, with high costs and low consumer awareness to blame, the independent public spending watchdog has said. The National Audit Office’s (NAO’s) report on decarbonising home heating published on Monday found that under the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, just 18,900 heat pumps were installed in England and Wales between May 2022 and December 2023. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) had expected the scheme would see 50,000 households convert their gas boilers to heat pumps by that point. In October, the government announced that grants for installing air or ground source heat pumps would increase from £5,000 and £6,000, respectively, to £7,500....