Heat pump installations in the UK have already exceeded last year’s total, setting a new milestone for the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) with three months still to go in 2024. By the end of September, 42,000 installations were completed—outpacing 2023's total by approximately 4%.
The UK government is launching the Warm Homes Grant in 2025, an exciting initiative aimed at helping homeowners make their properties more energy-efficient. This fully funded scheme is available to those who meet certain criteria and could significantly reduce your energy costs while lowering your home's carbon footprint.
This week, the UK's last coal power station closed, signalling that the country’s energy landscape is undergoing a massive transformation. For over 200 years, coal was king, powering industry and homes alike. But today, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro are rapidly replacing fossil fuels in the national grid. With that change comes a new challenge—and opportunity—for those of us in the heating and plumbing industry.
With the UK election out the way and a new government in place, we feel it’s important to explore the potential implications for the heat pump market now that Labour has taken the helm. For plumbers, particularly those considering diversifying into heat pump installations, Labour's anticipated measures could present significant opportunities in the evolving green energy sector.
The UK remains overly dependent on natural gas, according to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), which provides independent recommendations to the government.
In its recent annual assessment, the NIC highlights the urgent need to reduce reliance on high-cost, high-carbon natural gas and accelerate the adoption of heat pump technology to meet the ambitious net zero targets by 2050. According to the Commission, decarbonising buildings is a critical aspect of this transition and represents the single biggest challenge on the path to net zero.
In an exciting day for the heat pump industry, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is now open and accepting new grant applications. As an MCS certified contractor, as well as part of our Alto Assured Installer Scheme, Alto Energy is registered with Ofgem to administer BUS grant applications for our customers.
Powervault and Alto Energy share a commitment to helping UK households dramatically reduce their carbon footprint and help drive toward Net Zero; because of this shared vision we have agreed to work together as affiliate partners, giving our respective customers access to the associated technology of another trusted UK supplier.
Alto Energy is delighted to announce a further 250 spots have been made available on our Alto Assured Heat Pump Training Course. Following the success of the course this year, and due to unprecedented demand for spaces, we have increased the number of courses we’re running - both online and in person at our training centre in Oxfordshire. Our free course represents a unique opportunity for heating installers to quickly get started installing heat pumps.
A new report by the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) has shown that the ever-increasing prices of fossil fuels means that gas boilers are become more expensive to run. The analysis below shows that, with an efficient heat pump, households can now save up to 27% on their heating bills compared to a gas boiler.
