RENEWABLE ENERGY INTEGRATION


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The right skills will cut the bills and deliver sustainable heating


Fernando de la Cruz Quintanilla, EMEA New Markets director at global specialist in climate control, Airzone, explains why tackling the HVAC skills gap is vital to implementing the Warm Homes Plan and bringing sustainable heating to many homes across the UK


Heating Issues Heating your home in the UK has never been more expensive than it is right now. The Offi ce of National Statistics found that in the UK, domestic energy costs have risen by 61% in the last fi ve years. Consequently, it was estimated that last year 1.7 million households said that they weren’t going to turn their heating on, which is a signifi cant rise from the 972,000 who said that they kept their heating off the year before. And 55% of these households directly blamed the rising cost of living as the main reason why they were not going to heat their homes. Not only is this uncomfortable, it also presents a health risk, particularly if you are already vulnerable. For those who can aff ord to heat their homes,


they are often faced with a sustainability dilemma because of legacy gas boilers still being used in the UK. Using gas to heat homes in the UK adds signifi cantly to its carbon footprint, as residential heating accounted for 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, and the average UK boiler


is responsible for the equivalent of over seven transatlantic fl ights’ worth of CO2. Frustratingly, the UK had a plan to phase out gas boilers by 2035, but earlier this year the government scrapped this plan.


The Warm Homes Plan


But it’s not all doom and gloom. In the recent budget spending review, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that £13.2 billion is being pledged to the Warm Homes Plan. This is a push from the government to reduce the aforementioned home energy costs, tackle fuel poverty, and support the UK’s transition to Net Zero. This investment aims to make homes warmer, more energy effi cient, and cheaper to heat through upgrading insulation, installing heat pumps and solar panels, and supporting especially vulnerable and low-income households with tailored retrofi t upgrades. The Warm Homes Plan has also lifted a key planning restriction that stipulated that heat pumps needed to be one metre from a neighbour’s


Above & below: Some of Airzone’s climate control solutions


property, which will make it easier for millions of homes in the UK to have a heat pump installed. However, this will not help people in rented or leasehold properties, and the actual biggest barrier to installing a heat pump is the high upfront cost. This is particularly true for older houses which may also require upgrades to pipework and insulation. With the amount of terraced housing in the UK, adhering to this regulation has been very diffi cult


14 August 2025


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