HEATING & PLUMBING
THE FUTURE’S MULTI-TECH
The UK government may be pushing on towards its net zero target, but there is no one-size fits all solution for heating the UK’s wide range of home styles, as Fiona Russell-Horne found out from Worcester Bosch’s sales & marketing director Jo Shepherd.
A
gas boiler is, if you think about it, quite a complex piece of kit. Over the years, there has been a move towards simplifying it, with the
development of the combi boiler. However, now, with the UK heading on the journey towards net zero carbon emissions, it’s all getting more complicated again. There are major changes to the way gas boilers are used in new builds from the year after next. Although not expressly banned, it will be almost impossible to hit the required energy efficiency levels of the house by installing a gas boiler. Thus, the need to work out viable alternatives is pressing. However, as Worcester Bosch sales and marketing director Jo Shepherd points out, this is where it gets more convoluted.
Different options “The current UK housing stock won’t allow for a one-size fits all solution or system approach,” she says. “So we are going to have to look at various different options whether that be heat pumps, hydrogen boilers or hybrids. That obviously affects merchants because without a one-size fits all, merchants will have to be aware of, and willing and able to stock, a variety of solutions to cater for a wide variety of customer requirements. The development of heat pumps and hybrids and hydrogen boilers all at the same time means the future will most likely be a multi-tech one for heating systems in the home.”
The new build sector will have to deal with the issue first, because heat pumps will become the technology likely to be installed in single properties, but it’s what happens with the retrofit market that is going to be interesting. Much of the housing stock in the UK doesn’t have massive gardens, or huge spaces in
the home, and heat pumps do take up more space than a conventional boiler. Shepherd says: “That’s why we believe it’s important to look at hybrid options, in particular, though there has also been a lot of focus on hydrogen. At Worcester Bosch, we are still doing work on trials in that area ourselves.”
Guidance The problem is, Shepherd explains, there still isn’t full guidance from the government, which seems to prefer to sit tight and watch how the market evolves. “At Worcester Bosch, obviously, we specialise in the heating system – the boilers, the heat pumps, and the systems. Our merchant customers, on the other hand, have a huge variety of product areas that they need to know and understand. It’s our role as manufacturers to support them and help them in terms of education and training. For example, it’s important that we can help merchants understand that a hybrid system isn’t going to be more expensive than a standard heat pump, just because it has a boiler element, in fact it’s considerably cheaper. And that it might be a really good transition for the market as we move more towards the target of net zero.” Shepherd says that in the medium-term, hybrid options of heat-pump plus boiler, are likely to be a major focus for much of the industry. Fundamentally, they run on the same principle as hybrid cars: some journeys will be more suitable for the electric option, but for others, the petrol option kicks in. “Hybrid heating systems will run off the heat pump as the main source of energy, however the boiler is there as an extra back-up. I think for consumers and installers, this gives that little bit of a comfort factor, knowing that
September 2023
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
the boiler isn’t simply going to disappear as a technology, when everyone has got used to that technology over the years. As with every step change in technology, customers can be segmented: there will be the early adopters who are concerned about their carbon footprint, followed by those for whom heat pumps will mean a real price advantage if, for example they want to move from LPG or oil; then the fast followers who wait until they see how the technology pans out before committing. Finally, Shepherd says, there is the mass market, where the decision to change is legislation-driven. “Many of these people might not be able to have a heat pump immediately, either because it’s too expensive, or their house isn’t suitable. That’s why hybrid represents a good opportunity to find a mid- way ground,” she says.
Technology change “It will be an interesting transition period, and with legislation and the consultation periods, it will be a long process to get there, with, currently, plenty of unanswered questions. From a merchant’s point of view, they will need to be up-to-speed, not just with heat pumps themselves, but with the technologies around the hybrid solution, and the changes to hot-water and heat delivery that it will entail. We have a huge part to play in helping and supporting them through it all.” BMJ
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