Heating with Hydrogen is more expensive and less efficient than a Heat Pump

On Tuesday, the BBC and many other media outlets published articles highlighting the concerns experts had regarding hydrogen as a home heating system and compared it to more efficient alternatives such as heat pumps. The article also looked into a new study that reviewed 32 pieces of literature relating to the merits of using hydrogen for domestic heating.

Like many heating engineers, I’m sure your time to dive into research papers is limited, so we’ve summed up the key points for you:

  • None of the 32 studies support widespread use of hydrogen for space and water heating

  • Using a hydrogen heating system is associated with higher energy system costs vs alternatives like heat pumps, district heating, and solar thermal.

  • Hydrogen heating systems result in higher heating costs (including upfront & running costs of heating systems) for consumers vs heat pumps, district heating, and solar thermal.

This news won’t surprise many of you. That said, if you were hoping for hydrogen to take off in the UK, it seems unlikely. The UK’s transition to heating alternatives like heat pumps is already underway and from the research we’ve seen, it appears to be one of the best solutions we have.

You can find the original BBC article here.

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