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- Some regions have opted for heat pumps more than others, new figures reveal
The UK regions with the most (and least) heat pumps have been revealed.
The number of devices installed in the UK has increased in recent years, as households try to reduce their carbon emissions and cut their energy costs.
Heat pumps use electricity to transfer heat from the air or ground to buildings for heating and are an alternative to traditional gas boilers.
With the cost of living crisis hitting household budgets, half of UK households (49 per cent) say they have adopted green habits mainly to save money, although the initial cost of a heat pump is of £8,000 or more. It is a barrier.
Southern bias: Most heat pumps are located in the south or east of England.
Cornwall is the heat pump capital of the UK, with 14,043 homes using the technology, according to an analysis of 26 million homes by benchmarking company Uswitch.
The South West region has 11,980 air source heat pumps and 14,043 ground source heat pumps, meaning more than 5 per cent of 277,078 households have adopted the technology.
Widespread adoption has been slow in the UK due to a number of factors including high installation costs compared to gas boilers and their greater adaptation to newer homes, which are well insulated and airtight, rather than many of the oldest and draughtiest homes in the UK.
A shortage of qualified installers and a lack of consumer awareness are also reasons for slow upgrading in the UK.
> Are all heat pumps noisy? I spent a week with one and he drove me crazy.
A home that replaces a gas boiler with a geothermal heat pump could reduce its energy bills by up to 50 percent.
Achieving these savings would require the heat pump to be installed to very high standards, so that the heat pump efficiency was high and the home was on a heat pump tariff.
Across the UK, just 1 per cent of homes have heat pumps installed, with 228,877 air source heat pumps and 32,174 heat source varieties in operation.
Slow adopters: These areas have the fewest homeowners who have installed heat pumps
Wiltshire has the second highest number of heat pumps, with 4,709 among the region’s 209,052 homes. King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Shropshire and Breckland, Norfolk, make up the rest of the top five.
Mid Suffolk has the highest proportion of heat pumps in homes, with 6.8 per cent of the region’s 42,211 homes having one. Blackpool has the lowest proportion, with just 0.1 per cent of the area’s 82,785 households investing in this technology.
Tamworth, in Staffordshire, is the region with the fewest heat pumps, with only 20 in total. Hyndburn and Barrow-in-Furness have the next lowest number, at 24 and 27 respectively.
Uswitch energy expert Ben Gallizzi said: “So far, heat pumps have spread slowly across the UK, with widespread adoption held back by high installation costs and poorly insulated homes.
“There are different types of heat pumps, including air or ground, and some can be expensive (and harmful) to install.
‘Although they can reduce your energy bill if properly installed, it is difficult to predict the amount they will save you as it depends on the system they are replacing.
“If you are replacing a standard gas boiler, a heat pump is less likely to offer savings, although it will dramatically reduce your carbon emissions.”
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