British Gas chalks up first 1,500 heat pump installations

British Gas has announced that it has installed more than 1,500 air source heat pumps since January, including the first installation supported by the Government’s Boiler Modernisation Scheme.

The company announced the sales milestone, confirming it will now offer standard air source heat pumps up to 7kW for £4,999 to help customers cut emissions and energy bills. The fee covers the mechanical and electrical installation, as well as a deaf cylinder with a volume of up to 200.

“Heat pumps are an important part of the UK’s journey to a decarbonised future,” said Andrew Middleton, managing director of net zero businesses at British Gas. “While we understand that many households are cautious about their spending in the current climate, we encourage those customers who can switch to low-carbon heating to do so now and benefit from government incentives for early adopters.”

British Gas said it has also installed the first heat pump to be subsidised as part of its £450m boiler upgrade programme, which opened in April 2022 and offers £5,000 in grants for heat pumps. It is planing to install 1200 heat pumps per year in private and social housing.

The government has set out plans to roll out 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028 and phase out gas boilers by 2035, but the current rate of heat pump deployment falls well short of the government’s target, with figures from the European Heat Pump Association showing that just last year by country 43 thousand heat pumps were installed.

Industry insiders warn that much more grant funding, enabling policies, better communication and a broad skills agenda will be needed to meet the 2028 targets and beyond.