When Bill Tuck first started installing air source heat pumps six years ago, other heating engineers were skeptical about whether the green technology would take off. \u201cNow, the conversation is completely different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting approached by them saying: \u2018Mrs Jones, my customer for 15 years, she\u2019s enquiring about a heat pump. What can you tell me?\u2019 The whole narrative has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
But despite a surge in interest<\/a> in cheap and sustainable ways to warm homes, the government is understood to be slashing the amount of money available to subsidise heat pumps<\/a> as it looks for ways to cut spending in Wednesday\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n Businesses that install the renewable systems are fearing the worst. \u201cIt\u2019s going to damage us as a company,\u201d said Tuck, the operations director at Sustain Homes in Watford. About 75% of his customers pay for their pump using the government subsidies. \u201cIt\u2019s the foundation of the business. If that\u2019s to go, it\u2019s extremely damaging.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, we will do what it takes to keep everybody\u2019s jobs going and the business afloat. But it\u2019s a tough one \u2013 I don\u2019t know how we will do that.\u201d<\/p>\n The boiler upgrade scheme<\/a> (BUS) was introduced in 2022 to help people decarbonise their homes and businesses. It provides upfront grants worth up to \u00a39,000 to help property owners replace fossil fuel and direct electric heating systems with low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps and biomass boilers.<\/p>\n Heat in buildings is responsible for approximately nearly a fifth of the UK\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, the latest government data shows. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has described the 2020s as a \u201ccritical decade for decarbonising heat\u201d<\/a>, but now appears to be putting the cost of decarbonising on to the consumer. The UK lags far behind other European countries<\/a> with heat pump installation; Norway, the global leader, has 632 installed for every 1,000 households, while the UK has a paltry 3.5.<\/p>\n Jim Lacey: \u2018The whole argument\u2019s gone.\u2019<\/p>\n Jim Lacey, who has been installing renewables with his business JLN Plumbing & Heating for 20 years, said: \u201cNo one\u2019s going to save the planet if it really hits their pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can go in [to homes] now and go: \u2018It\u2019s a few hundred pound more than having a normal boiler, but you save so much on your energy usage.\u2019 That whole argument\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Killa, the founder of Ask Renewables in Burscough, Lancashire, saw what happens when subsidies are removed after the 2022 closure of the Renewable Heat Incentive<\/a>, a scheme that paid households for generating clean heat.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as that stopped, we went from doing six, seven, eight [installs] a week down to zero. The customers say: \u2018Well, I know they\u2019re good, but 15 grand \u2013 I can buy a new boiler for three grand. What\u2019s the point?\u2019<\/p>\n While the government continues its drive to increase numbers of young people earning while learning, heat pump installers say cuts to the subsidy will put their apprentices \u2013 and the future of the industry \u2013 are at risk.<\/p>\n Adam Killa: \u2018Customers say: what\u2019s the point?\u2019 <\/p>\n \u201cUnless we start bringing the young generation through, we\u2019re going to have a huge lack of installers, repair engineers, and more importantly, heat pumps as well,\u201d said Tuck.<\/p>\n