Millions of Brits can soon afford to rip out boilers & install eco-heat pumps

MILLIONS of cash-strapped Brits will be able to afford to rip out their boilers and install eco-heat pumps within months, green campaigners say today.

After a furious backlash at Government plans to try and force Brits to swap over their dirty gas boilers as part of moves to go green, experts said it wouldn’t be long before the price is slashed to affordable levels.

At the moment they can set Brits back on average £10,000, but by making more of them in Britain, firms are confident the price will halve within 18 months to around £5,500.

And together with new grants, it may mean that the cost of an eco-heat pump could be as low as £1,500 – the price of some boilers.

Greenies also say that heat pumps are more efficient than gas boilers, have fewer parts and are safer.

Octopus Energy is investing £10m to build the UK’s first major training centre for heat pump engineers, which they say will create a huge jobs bonanza.

Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy, said yesterday: “Today, they’re expensive because it’s a cottage industry, but Octopus should be able to halve the price over the next couple of years and we think they’ll end up costing roughly the same as gas boilers.

“Running costs will hopefully fall too, as the government is expected to remove some of the green taxes from electricity bills. “This isn’t just about preventing climate change – it’s about bringing us cheaper, safer, cleaner, more reliable heating.”

Ministers are also poised to confirm they will dish out a cash bung to families from next March if they install an eco-heat pump which sucks energy from the air or the ground.

Families will be handed £4,000 – an amount which could be increased – to ditch their boilers as part of a national mission to tackle climate change.

The Government wants to install 600,000 heat pumps in Britain’s homes by 2028, which will mean a huge ramping up. Angela Terry, founder of One Home climate campaign group, told Trending In The News last night: “Within a few years, heat pumps will be a viable option for heating all UK homes when their gas boilers break down as the cost of all new technologies come down at scale.

“To stop runaway global warming, we have to tackle carbon pollution from heating – it sounds scary getting rid of your boiler, but it doesn’t have to be.”

It comes as a shock study warns that Britain is set to breach the Paris Climate Change accords as temperatures are on the brink of being 1.5C higher than they were pre industrial revolution.

By 2025 there’s a 40 per cent charge that the crucial goals will be missed as the world continues to pump polluting and warming gases into the air, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Leon Hermanson, a senior Met Office scientist, said yesterday: “Time is running out for the strong action which we need now.”

Today Boris Johnson issues a national rally cry to businesses to step up to the plate and sign up to fresh green goals ahead of COP26 this autumn.

NatWest will join Google, Scottish Power and BT in signing up to the pledge to slash their emissions in half before 2030, and get to net zero by 2050 or sooner.

Small firms will get a toolkit for how to help best protect the planet, and tips on growing a greener business.

The PM said last night: “Every step that a small business takes on their journey to net zero adds up – not only in protecting the health of the planet but also in future-proofing their business and encouraging new investment, new customers and new opportunities for growth.”