By far the largest proportion of UK homes still get their heating and hot water from a gas boiler. Natural gas is sourced from a variety of locations in and outside of the UK. The North Sea oil and gas fields are still a major contributor, but a significant proportion of gas is imported from the EU and further afield, including 4% from Russia. This direct tie to other market influences in an uncertain global geopolitical landscape is making headlines throughout the western world. Indeed, the middle eastern oil states are being courted to increase output to fill the market with more fossil fuels in an attempt to reduce prices. A step the OPEC cartel is unlikely to take as their economies still heavily rely on fixing the market price of fossil fuels. The alternative is to reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use as a nation and the most significant step we can take is to make the switch to more renewable options.
Technologies such as ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps do not run-on fossil fuels, but use electricity for about a quarter of their energy and use energy from the environment for the rest. It is sometimes argued that electricity still comes from fossil fuels, but the proportion is reducing year on year due to the increase in renewable energy generation from solar panels and wind farms. Currently, about 20-40% of the UK electricity comes from renewable sources and this is steadily increasing. Even a proportion of the electricity we import from the EU is provided by renewable energy generation schemes.
As news of war in eastern Europe came through, the media has been quick to highlight the current dependency of countries in the west on oil and gas produced overseas. This increase in coverage has translated to a surge of enquiries from households trying to reduce their energy bills and distance themselves from the volatile oil and gas market. People are realising that making the switch to renewables will, to some extent, future proof their heating systems.
If you want to understand more about how heat pumps can save you running costs, reduce your carbon emissions and safeguard you from some of the effects of rising gas and oil prices, contact our consultant engineers who can detail how a heat pumps system can work for you. Get in touch or call 01293 821 345 and join the wave of people looking to make a difference in these unsettling times.
Image Credit - Boiler Juice
