Matthew Lipson shares his view on consumer challenges for low carbon heat

18th November 2015

If you look at the statistics it is obvious that we need to fundamentally change the way we heat our homes if the UK is to make the transition to a low carbon future.

Heat accounts for more than 40% of the UK’s total energy demand and heating the UK’s buildings contributes roughly 20% of overall UK CO₂ emissions.

Much of the UK’s housing has a low standard of energy efficiency and up to 90% of our 26 million homes could still be around in 2050.

As if that wasn’t challenging enough fewer than 4% of people currently have low carbon heating and 90% prefer gas central heating when given the choice.

So it’s clear that it will be a major challenge for the UK to all but eliminate emissions from domestic heating to meet its carbon targets.

Added to the logistical challenge of improving the heating and efficiency of so many properties are other less well understood issues.

Our extensive research has highlighted a number of issues the UK has to address if it is to change how it heats the majority of its buildings.

Location limits what solutions will be available in any area and many homes will need modifying to make sure solutions work well so different solutions will be needed for different types of buildings in different areas.

Alongside this, people are also diverse and want different things – for example cost, comfort, health – and therefore the same solution will not suit everyone’s needs.

This means there is a need to improve low carbon heating experiences by designing solutions to tackle common problems and enhance home life. Historic experience shows that widespread change in domestic heating can be achieved when the new options available deliver a better experience for consumers.

Low carbon heating should also be simple to prepare for and install and workable low carbon heating solutions designed so they can be installed in a similar timeframe to a gas boiler. People will also need to know what will work in their area and what they need to do to prepare their homes.

And, people will also need better controls if they are to get the experiences they want from lower carbon heating. Heating should be easy to control and quick to respond to those controls.

Previous measures to reduce emissions have been relatively simple, cheap and delivered visible benefits but the options currently available to make further step-change reductions would require households to endure more disruption for less obvious benefits.

So, although future low carbon heating solutions need to be high quality designs, underpinned by sound engineering and based on financially viable business models, they ultimately need to be appealing to consumers, simple to install and easy to control if they are to be taken up at scale required.

View the full report 'consumer challenges for low carbon heat' here