Electric Heating
Heat pumps and the path to decarbonisation
Griff Thomas, managing director at GTEC Training and Heatly (part of United Infrastructure) shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities of heat pumps in the drive to decarbonisation.
H
eating is the UK’s biggest energy challenge. While electricity is decarbonising faster thanks to wind and solar, heating homes and businesses, mostly by burning natural gas, still accounts for around a quarter of national emissions. Each new gas boiler spells decades of further carbon production for individual households and buildings. If we are serious about reaching net zero, we must replace them with cleaner alternatives, and heat pumps are the technology best placed to deliver this transition.
Heat pumps are proven, scalable and efficient. But, widespread adoption will only succeed if we tackle barriers around regulation, skills, consumer understanding and financing. The opportunity is enormous and paves the way for lower bills, cleaner air and stronger energy security, but only if we make the jump from pilot projects to mainstream rollout. The facts
A heat pump works by moving heat from the air, ground or water into a building. Because they transfer rather than generate heat, they are highly efficient, typically delivering three units of heat for every unit of electricity consumed. That makes them far more efficient than a gas boiler, which produces less than one unit of heat per unit of energy burned.
Importantly, as the electricity grid becomes cleaner, the emissions associated with running heat pumps fall. Every heat pump installed today gets greener over time, while every boiler installed today locks in fossil fuel dependency until the 2040s.
Heat pumps can work in most building types, but the economics and performance vary. In new builds with high efficiency standards and underfloor heating, heat pumps can be integrated seamlessly with minimal extra costs. For older homes, a whole house retrofit isn’t always necessary, and modest upgrades such as insultation and larger radiators will go a long
way to achieve strong results. Commercial and public buildings demand larger systems, which are often linked to thermal storage and can efficiently heat schools, hospitals and offices. And homes suing oil or direct electric heating will see immediate financial and carbon savings from heat pumps.
The key is matching the right technology to the right building, rather than seeing heat pumps as all or nothing.
The challenges
When it comes to installation, a heat pump is not like a simple boiler swap. The success of this technology depends on proper design and commissioning. Installers must be able to conduct accurate heat loss calculations, size emitters correctly, integrate with hot water and control systems and optimise performance at handover. Tools that streamline the heat pump
28 | electrical wholesalerNovember 2025
system installation process (survey, design, installation and commissioning), like Heatly are being rolled out thanks to government support and investment.
This more complicated installation process represents a cultural shift in the heating trade. Boiler installation has long been standardised and quick, but heat pumps require more intricacy and skill. That’s why training and accreditation are essential. Organisations like GTEC Training are focused on scaling up training, but reaching the tens of thousands of skilled installers needed by 2030 requires major investment in apprenticeships and reskilling programmes.
Mythbusting
Despite their proven track record in countries with colder climates than ours, heat pumps in the UK still face persistent myths:
“They don’t work in cold weather.” Modern
ewnews.co.uk
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