Futureproofing UK Homes in 2025: Save money, cut emissions, and switch to low-carbon heating

UK households are feeling the strain of rising energy bills more than ever, following Ofgem’s latest price cap rise, which looks set to increase again in April to £1785, affecting 26 million UK homes.
This financial pressure coincides with significant regulatory changes in the UK’s built environment. The Future Homes Standard mandates that new homes be zero-carbon ready by 2025, aiming to reduce emissions by up to 80%.

This dual challenge highlights the urgent need for energy-efficient, clean heating – this year more than ever – which could also be a bridge between energy affordability and a greener future.

Low carbon technology takes centre stage in cutting costs and emissions

Earlier this month, it was revealed that UK’s gas storage levels are running concerningly low due to a cold snap across the country; as a result, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) had to ask plants to generate an extra 1700MW of power to meet the UK’s heating demands this winter.

While we aren’t facing immediate energy blackouts, there has never been a more urgent time to replace our dependency on fossil fuel markets with clean and homegrown power – especially given Britain’s ambitious mission to be a clean power by 2030 and phase out gas boilers by 2035.

Homegrown innovation in thermal energy storage and heating technologies is pivotal to achieving this mission, understanding that heat generation accounts for 44% of total energy consumption and 37% of UK’s carbon emissions, of which the largest share is of domestic heat.

A significant portion of this energy is dedicated to delivering space & water heating to UK households, which also costs over 50% of the household fuel bills – typical annual gas use for 2-3 people in the house is 11500 kWh and electricity use is 2700 kWh – underscoring the need for more energy and cost-efficient technology alternatives to heat homes.

A recent study found that poorly insulated homes – with heat losses from doors, windows, lofts and even gas boilers & airing cupboards could cost thousands in energy bills annually.
And while quicker retrofit solutions, such as loft insulation, draught-proofing, LED lighting, and draught excluders, may seem convenient, a more durable and futureproof approach is to address the current energy security and gas storage concerns.

By transitioning to reliable, low-carbon, and highly efficient heating solutions like heat pumps, heat networks, and solar PV, homeowners can not only reduce long-term costs but also achieve more stable energy bills. This shift aligns with the UK Government’s energy security plan, Powering up Britain.

While heat pumps are unequivocally deemed to be the future of heating, they need to be an affordable and accessible technology for widescale adoption. According to a recent survey conducted by Mitsubishi of more than 2000 UK households, 73% of participants don’t know enough about renewables to make an informed purchase. To add to this, the current spark gap (with electricity costing about four times more per kilowatt hour (kWh) than gas) makes consumers even more sceptical about heat pump running costs and uptake.

We’ve covered the myths associated with heat pumps in detail here. In essence, heat pumps are highly efficient and have a very high SCOP (seasonal co-efficient of performance) compared to gas boilers, which can help offset the spark gap. Heat pumps can have a COP of 2.5-5, meaning they can produce 2.5-5 units of heat per unit of electricity, compared to gas boilers which have a COP of 0.92 (only 92% efficiency).

A homeowner, who was able to achieve a remarkable SCOP of 5.2, speaks about the criticality of designing an entire highly efficient heating system to achieve a COP high enough to make a considerable impact on cost savings. For instance, with recent heat-pump-centric tariffs such as Cosy Octopus and Heat Pump Plus, a heat pump with an average 3.1 COP can save £213 annually and more savings may be possible with future removal of environmental levies.

Notably though, there still remain some common concerns &  myths that come in the way of widespread heat pumps uptake across the UK in 2025.

i. Financial barriers in widespread heat pump adoption

DESNZ’s public attitude tracker tells us that concerns related to the upfront heat pump installation costs remain among the most significant of barriers for consumers.
A typical air-source heat pump installation costs around £12,000, substantially higher than the £1,500 to £2,300 required for a conventional gas boiler. Even after applying government subsidies, such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme – which offers grants up to £7,500 – the net cost can still be prohibitive for households.

To overcome financial roadblocks, the UK government enhanced support mechanisms last year. Recent changes to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme have increased funding and removed certain prerequisites, such as prior insulation, making it more accessible now. Planning permission requirements have been relaxed – such as removal of one-meter rule & increasing the maximum allowable size of an ASHP to 1.5m³ – to streamline the installation process.

Heat pumps are going to be made cheaper and easier to install, according to DESNZ. Furthermore, with Octopus and Ovo energy’s tailored heat pump tariffs, they will be much cheaper to run than a gas boiler.

All these factors come together to make the switch from gas boilers to heat pumps easier this year than ever before to bring us closer to our net zero goals while delivering long-term environmental and economic benefits. But there are other concerns, such as:

ii. Limited heat pump installer availability – the renewables workforce skill gap

As mentioned by the homeowner who’s achieved high-performance from their heat pump system, quality of heat pump installation is pivotal to designing an overall high-performing heating system – which can only become standard with more trained and active heat pump installers, for which there’s a workforce skill gap that needs to be urgently addressed.

Not including the broader roles in the overall low-carbon heating supply chain, the sector would need 41,000 full-time roles, going up to 122,000 by 2035, when the heat pump installation target rises to 1.6 million per year in future to achieve our targets.

Plus, with Future Home Standard – which mandates heat pumps for new builds – and Clean Heat Market Mechanism phasing in, both heat pump training rate & active heat pump installers in the market will need to go up.

To address this, the UK government has introduced several initiatives to enhance skills and reduce financial barriers for installers looking to expand their expertise, such as Heat Training Grant, offering heating engineers a discount of up to £500 towards the cost of heat pump training. This aims to reduce financial barriers for installers seeking to expand their expertise.

The government has also offered £9.2 million in grant funding to registered training providers in England to facilitate the accredited training delivery in the retrofit, energy efficiency and heat pump sectors, and increase the number of qualified installers. More than £200 million to support colleges and universities to offer more training opportunities in the growing green sector was announced in November 2024.

But beyond upskilling the workforce, the actual housing infrastructure remains a concern too.

iii. The problem with additional space required for heat pump installs:

Depending on the housing type, a heat pump install may need UK homes to be modified to a great degree, such as installing cavity walls and lofts as well as upgrading radiators and insulation to accommodate the lower operating temperatures of low-temperature heat pumps (LTHPs).

Last year, the government removed the requirement for mandatory cavity wall and loft insulation previously tied to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). This helps lower the upfront costs of installing heat pumps by up to £2,500, increasing accessibility, which also means that the full £7,500 BUS support goes towards the heat pump upgrade.

Additionally, some housing types also need ‘large-surface-area’ radiator upgrades when switching from gas boilers to LTHPs, as LTHPs operate at lower flow temperatures compared to traditional boilers, so larger radiators or underfloor heating systems are needed to compensate for the lower heat output. This both increases installation costs and creates disruptive renovations, impacting the appeal of installing a heat pump for homeowners and housing providers.

In contrast, choosing a high-temperature heat pump (HTHP) – which operates at flow temperatures of up to 80°C, similar to traditional gas boilers – effectively addresses concerns about lower heating performance or ‘temperature anxiety.’ By doing so, it also ensures easier integration with a home’s existing infrastructure – no need for disruptive upgrades.

 

Low vs high temperature heat pumps

However, for all housing types moving to heat pumps, ‘optimising’ space for additional thermal storage to deliver hot water is non-negotiable.

A recent joint report by Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Energy Systems Catapult found that ‘indoor space’ is among the top three most common practical barriers in a heat pump installation. Terraced houses, the most frequent property type in the UK (6.93Mn properties or 26.3% of the total stock), were particularly noted to have space constraints.

In the Electrification of Heat project by BEIS, 81% of homes needed a new hot water tank when installing heat pumps. This was because they either had a combi boiler before or their existing tank wasn’t suitable.

23 million homes in the UK have a gas boiler to supply their central heating and hot water. So when moving to heat pumps, an additional thermal storage – like a bulky hot water tank – becomes prohibitive for the most housing types. For specifiers designing new builds aligning with upcoming Building Regulations changes, this means accounting for valuable floor space dedicated to large water tanks.

The need for a more efficient, space-saving solution is imperative in order to transition UK homes to heat pump heating.

 

How Sunamp’s Thermino enables transition to heat pumps

Sunamp’s Thermino heat battery revolutionises how all types of UK homes can store and use heat, addressing one of the biggest challenges of transitioning to renewable heating: space constraints.
The heat battery is the gamechanger for homeowners, heating engineers and specifiers seeking thermal storage for renewables by offering a compact, high-performance solution that takes away the need for bulky hot water tanks, when moving away from gas.
With its Plentigrade phase change material (PCM) technology, the heat battery stores and releases heat efficiently, making it ideal for both new builds and retrofits. Whether designing to meet future regulations or just optimising space, Thermino can be a seamless fit for space-constrained flats, terraced houses as well as social housing tower blocks.

Combining this compact thermal storage with the efficiency of heat pumps, homeowners can unlock an all-round sustainable, high-performance heating system without compromising on living space.

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“If you’re a homeowner switching from a gas boiler to a heat pump or a housing association upgrading to ASHPs or GSHPs, Thermino’s Optimino key architecture makes the transition easy.

By swapping a tiny Optimino key (like changing a game cartridge) you can quickly adapt Thermino heat batteries to your heating set up. For instance, swapping the VF key (designed for boilers) to the SG key makes Thermino compatible with Samsung heat pumps, including R290 and many R32 models. Plus, with a variety of keys—such as VT, DN, TO, HA, MA, and BH—you’re free to choose from different heat pump brands without being tied to one supplier. Check out the full list of supported brands here.

Want to add solar PV diversion later? No problem. With the Solar Homes Generation Bill being debated in the parliament, supporting the integration of solar PV into homes, you can futureproof your setup with ease. Whether you’re still using a boiler or have upgraded to a heat pump, you can easily integrate solar PV by swapping another key. Thermino gives you the flexibility, efficiency, and futureproofing you need for sustainable heating.”

Andrew Bissell, CEO & Co-founder, Sunamp

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Embracing low-carbon technology is central to achieving both cleaner and cheaper heating. If you’re a homeowner looking to transition to low-carbon heating, find a list of Sunamp-certified installers here. If you’re a specifier looking to retrofit our heat battery into your building designs, use our BIM models to get started.

 

Home developers, architects and housing associations in the UK looking to collaborate, contact us for business enquries.

Homeowners can install our heat batteries by getting in touch with your nearest Sunamp-approved installers here.

 

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