Fears of ‘heat hammer-style’ rebellion if expensive heating systems imposed
Forcing British households to adopt “luxury” heat pumps risks triggering a backlash akin to a rebellion by Germans over the country’s boiler ban, the UK’s biggest gas network operator has warned.
Angela Needle, director of strategy at Cadent Gas, warned that ruling out the option of using hydrogen for heating homes risked leaving consumers with just one option, heat pumps, which remained far too expensive for most households.
She pointed to controversy in Germany over a ban on buying new gas boilers from 2024, dubbed the “heat hammer” by critics, adding: “Heat pumps are a luxury product for folks who’ve got £13,000 in the bank.
“Forcing one solution on everybody will be politically very difficult and I think you’ve seen with Germany, with the heat hammer, that it’s not going to be a vote winner.