British Gas, Ovo, EDF, Octopus customers who switch boiler handed free £300

Households using heat pumps consume only half the imported energy compared to those with gas boilers, according to new research from a leading think tank. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that homes with heat pumps use 2.9 megawatt hours annually.

And gas boiler households consume 5.7 megawatt hours in properties with an EPC rating of C. The shift towards heat pumps could "boost Britain's energy security", according to ECIU energy analyst Jess Ralston. "We know that continuing to rely on gas boilers just means we'll see our imports rise," she said.

Households could save around £100 annually by using heat pumps with smart time-of-use electricity tariffs. Additional savings of approximately £200 per year are possible through better home insulation.

READ MORE UK faces 1 inch snow per hour this week with three parts of England worst-hit

Come 2030, in just five years’ time, if the renewables roll out continues to accelerate, a heat pump would be using just 1.3MWh of imported primary energy, 55% less than today. By contrast, a gas boiler will be 80% dependent on imports, as North Sea output continues its ongoing decline, using 7.6MWh of imported gas in 2030, a third more than in 2024.

This means that a heat pump would use as little as a sixth (17%) as much imported energy as the gas boiler in 2030. Ms Ralston, Energy Analyst at ECIU said: “If you want to be heating your home on homegrown, British energy then a heat pump is the way to go. This ‘energy patriotism’ for heating is helping the UK as a whole to wean itself of foreign energy imports, boosting the UK’s energy security as British renewables ramp up rapidly.

“New renewables agreed at September’s government auction generate at a fixed price helping to stabilize electricity costs against the volatile price of electricity from gas power stations." The analysis is based on a home rated EPC C, for which median gas demand is 9.6MWh/yr.