THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOILER - How improved heat distribution systems could significantly reduce the cost of low carbon heating
13 October 2021
A strategy to optimise control and efficient operation of UK residential heating systems could significantly reduce the amount of energy required for heating, and therefore the infrastructure cost of providing decarbonised heat. This paper shows that:
- Measures to improve system efficiency have the potential to reduce current gas consumption for heating and hot water by 22%.
- Allied to optimised fabric energy efficiency and a different approach for hot water the overall reduction in gas used for heating and hot water could be as much as 53%.
The same system measures would provide immediate benefits for the energy efficiency of existing homes.
A range of policy levers are also suggested in this paper that could be used alongside a roadmap for improved heating systems to achieve the potential benefits in practice.
