OFGEM plans to have all gas boilers removed by 2050.

[cupid_stunt]

Energy regulator Ofgem has unveiled plans to rip gas central heating out of all homes by 2050.

‘To meet net-zero, Britain will see changes to the way homes and businesses are heated,’ says Jonathan Brearley, chief executive at Ofgem. ‘This might include using hydrogen boilers or electricity to power heat pumps and may see more customers connected to heat networks.’

‘Ofgem will use its expertise to work closely with government as it develops its strategy to decarbonise heat,’ he adds.

Only about 5% of energy used for heating UK homes comes from low-carbon sources, so this is going to be major project.

There's going to have to be a major increase in electricity generation to cope with this & electric cars, still I am sure they know what they are doing.

Ofgem reveals plans to remove gas central boilers from all households by 2050

How will it affect you?

www.idealhome.co.uk

 

[SpookyFrank]

By 2050 they'd better have invented boilers that work underwater.

 

[Chilli.s]

That's a pity cos I'll be too old to chop up logs and shovel coal in the stove by then. Just what is the alternative?

 

[TopCat]

That's a pity cos I'll be too old to chop up logs and shovel coal in the stove by then. Just what is the alternative?

Global warming

 

[StoneRoad]

Currently have an off-mains LPG supply (some cooking, CH and hot water) and the boiler was replaced only recently, which cost a pretty penny or six.

And I live in a national park, so planning permission could be an obstacle, it has been one already.

We tried for a small wind turbine a few years ago, but didn't proceed beyond an initial enquiry - planning, again. The roof shape / orientation doesn't allow for solar panels, ditto the planning - nat park, remember ...

I do have some trees planted, which need thinning now and the same again in a decade. But using wood for home heating is only carbon neutral. Which missed the point that the larger a tree is the better it is at scooping up carbon dioxide and fixing it as cellulose.

 

[skyscraper101]

I want a hydrogen fuel cell boiler

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I am admitedly quite grumpy this morning but what a stupid article.
"How will it affect you?"
It says absolutely nothing about how it will affect anyone and it's all very well Ofgem saying they want everyone's gas boiler to be gone by 2050 but they are saying nothing about how exactly they plan to do that.

 

[xenon]

After asking cupid_stunt yesterday on another thread about hydrogen cars, I just had a quick Google. There are prototypes of domestic hydrogen powered gas boilers. Perhaps at last we'll start seeing hydrogen powered stuff in the real world. Paris has a ffleat of hydrogen powered taxis I note too.

 

[Supine]

They'll probably do it by outlawing their sale at some point. So new boilers will all be electric.

 

[quimcunx]

I am admitedly quite grumpy this morning but what a stupid article.
"How will it affect you?"
It says absolutely nothing about how it will affect anyone and it's all very well Ofgem saying they want everyone's gas boiler to be gone by 2050 but they are saying nothing about how exactly they plan to do that.

Next time you have to replace your boiler you'll have to get an electric one. And electricity will be provided by green technology. Probably.

 

[fishfinger]

And we just got a new boiler in December!
<shakes fist at sky (knowing I'll be dead before this is a problem)>

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Next time you have to replace your boiler you'll have to get an electric one. And electricity will be provided by green technology. Probably.

Fair enough
Like I said.....bit grumpy this morning....

 

[cupid_stunt]

I am admitedly quite grumpy this morning but what a stupid article.
"How will it affect you?"
It says absolutely nothing about how it will affect anyone and it's all very well Ofgem saying they want everyone's gas boiler to be gone by 2050 but they are saying nothing about how exactly they plan to do that.

They mention three solutions, hydrogen powered boilers, electric & heat pumps.

There's two types of heat pumps, ground source or air source.

Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) absorb heat from the outside air. This heat can then be used to heat radiators, underfloor heating systems, or warm air convectors and hot water in your home.

Different from a ground source heat pump, an air source heat pump extracts heat from the outside air in the same way that a fridge extracts heat from its inside.

It can get heat from the air even when the temperature is as low as -15° C.

Heat pumps have some impact on the environment as they need electricity to run, but the heat they extract from the ground, air, or water is constantly being renewed naturally.

Air source heat pumps

Air source heat pumps extract heat from the air to heat your home and hot water. They can extract heat from temperatures as low as -15°C.

energysavingtrust.org.uk

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Yeah it sets out some alternatives to gas boilers but it doesn't say anything about what might actually happen to move people over to these new solutions. I still think it's a stupid article

Not having a go at you for posting it BTW but the person who wrote it.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Not having a go at you for posting it BTW but the person who wrote it.

Not the best article, but the only other link was The Sun, and I didn't want to click on that, and certainly not post a link to it on here.

TBH, I don't think OFGEM has developed any detailed plans yet, it's more a case of 'this is what we need to do, more later.'

 

[xenon]

Yeah it sets out some alternatives to gas boilers but it doesn't say anything about what might actually happen to move people over to these new solutions. I still think it's a stupid article

Not having a go at you for posting it BTW but the person who wrote it.

Boilers will be replaced over their usual lifespan with one of the non natural gas alternatives. They're expensive now but it's presumed prices will fall as the market grows. I'd not worry too much. Either they'll be affordable enough the next time round, government subdicies apply or we'll all be burning tyres and furniture to keep warm when the Atlantic conveyer goes on the wonk.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Boilers will be replaced over their usual lifespan with one of the non natural gas alternatives. They're expensive now but it's presumed prices will fall as the market grows. I'd not worry too much. Either they'll be affordable enough the next time round, government subdicies apply or we'll all be burning tyres and furniture to keep warm when the Atlantic conveyer goes on the wonk.

She could have said that in her stupid article

 

[StoneRoad]

Still no idea who is expected to pay for such a change.

 

[xenon]

She could have said that in her stupid article

I didn't even read it TBH, just the OP.

Also, "rip." Sounds like they're going to come round and forceably remove your grannie's heating. Rather than just the usual replacement of boilers is done with cleaner low carbon ones.

 

[elbows]

Its not the first time we've had to transition. The transition from town gas to natural gas started in the late 1960's and I presume it took quit a long time.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Daft question, most likely: what's the advantage of a hydrogen-burning boiler? Producing the hydrogen presumably involves electricity - and also the future transportation of it - so why not just use electricity to directly power the boiler? something something thermodynamics something

 

[BigTom]

Daft question, most likely: what's the advantage of a hydrogen-burning boiler? Producing the hydrogen presumably involves electricity - and also the future transportation of it - so why not just use electricity to directly power the boiler? something something thermodynamics something

Honestly I have no idea, I'm sure someone else will but from this article from Worcester-Bosch about their hydrogen boiler, the boiler would be fed with hydrogen using the existing gas infrastructure. Worcester Bosch officially reveals new hydrogen boiler

So one advantage I can see of this is that it wouldn't necessarily increase the load on the electrical grid - the hydrogen could be produced by wind/solar/etc that was not connected to the grid and just used to produce hydrogen that gets stored and distributed on the existing gas network. This would also allow you to store excess energy being produced by solar in the day for use at night/wind when it's windy for when it's not. Whether it's more or less efficient or environmentally friendly than other battery solutions, I have no idea.

Once the hydrogen is produced, would you have transmission losses? If not then you can avoid all the transmission losses of the electrical grid.

 

[BigTom]

Still no idea who is expected to pay for such a change.

Consumers will pay for the new boilers, as they replace old boilers over the next 30 years. I would expect the sale of new gas boilers to be banned from 2030 to achieve this. If they switch over from gas to hydrogen, they will have to enforce the changeover though and I wonder how that will happen.
Infrastructure will be paid for by a mix of the private companies that are involved with electricity and gas supply and the government, and probably mostly the government. Hopefully we get to actually keep the stuff we pay for this time If we'd kept the north sea gas and oil, like norway did, we could use the profits off the equity fund to pay for all this.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

My gas boiler has broken and I would love to replace it with electric but there are no monthly payment schemes for them at the moment. This is a really frustrating situation. But I've had to accept that if i want heat and hot water now I'll have to get gas. So I am

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Honestly I have no idea, I'm sure someone else will but from this article from Worcester-Bosch about their hydrogen boiler, the boiler would be fed with hydrogen using the existing gas infrastructure. Worcester Bosch officially reveals new hydrogen boiler

So one advantage I can see of this is that it wouldn't necessarily increase the load on the electrical grid - the hydrogen could be produced by wind/solar/etc that was not connected to the grid and just used to produce hydrogen that gets stored and distributed on the existing gas network. This would also allow you to store excess energy being produced by solar in the day for use at night/wind when it's windy for when it's not. Whether it's more or less efficient or environmentally friendly than other battery solutions, I have no idea.

Once the hydrogen is produced, would you have transmission losses? If not then you can avoid all the transmission losses of the electrical grid.

Thanks Tom. I hadn't considered that hydrogen production is itself a decent form of off-peak energy storage, or that dual gas boilers are being developed.

Still, there's only one set of pipes to most locales, so the transition is still helluva complicated.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

I would expect the sale of new gas boilers to be banned from 2030 to achieve this.

New builds won't be allowed gas boilers from 2025, so that timescale seems about right.

 

[WouldBe]

After asking cupid_stunt yesterday on another thread about hydrogen cars, I just had a quick Google. There are prototypes of domestic hydrogen powered gas boilers. Perhaps at last we'll start seeing hydrogen powered stuff in the real world. Paris has a ffleat of hydrogen powered taxis I note too.

I thought it was just a matter of changing the gas valve. They are supposed to be running a trial in Leeds and would be dammed expensive if they had to change everyone's boiler then change them back after the trial.

 

[WouldBe]

They'll probably do it by outlawing their sale at some point. So new boilers will all be electric.

I'd better get a new one soon then.

 

[WouldBe]

My gas boiler has broken and I would love to replace it with electric but there are no monthly payment schemes for them at the moment. This is a really frustrating situation. But I've had to accept that if i want heat and hot water now I'll have to get gas. So I am

Electricity is a lot more expensive than gas so you've saved a fortune.

 

[WouldBe]

Thanks Tom. I hadn't considered that hydrogen production is itself a decent form of off-peak energy storage, or that dual gas boilers are being developed.

Still, there's only one set of pipes to most locales, so the transition is still helluva complicated.

They aren't duel fuel it says they are hydrogen ready so presumably only needs the value changing if / when they change over to hydrogen.