Will Gas Boilers Be Banned?

It’s becoming common news that the International Energy Agency has committed to saying that gas boilers should be banned by 2025 in an attempt to help reverse the problem of climate change. What this means is that the plan which involves getting rid of boilers is an integral part of helping the world to reach zero emissions by 2050. 

The quality of housing is being improved across the UK and that’s an important part of making a change. Therefore, new homes will need to follow strict energy efficiency standards and that means that any new homes will need to be:

• More energy efficient
• Designed to reduce energy bills
• Warmer
• Designed to meet the the target of net zero emissions by 2050

As of 2023, which is two years earlier than originally planned, gas boilers will not be installed in all new build properties. Then, over the next 8 years, the IEA wants millions of homes to be changed from having old gas boilers to something new and more environmentally friendly. At this point, the UK government hasn’t confirmed whether this will happen but it is being considered. Therefore, if the UK does choose to take this option and your boiler breaks down after 2025 then you will need to replace it with an alternative to gas.

There are several alternatives to gas boilers and that means that homeowners will have some sort of option when the time comes. The options currently are:

• Using electricity to supply homes with heating. Some homes are already using storage heaters instead of radiators.
• Using electricity to power heat pumps
• Upgrading gas boilers so that they can work with the likes of hydrogen.
• Opting to use a heat pump that pumps hot water through pipes and around the home. 

From a financial perspective, the cost of a new build will increase by around £5,000 as this is the cost associated with installing low carbon heat pumps and networks. This is down to the fact that they often need larger radiators and underfloor heating. In comparison to this, the cost of replacing your boiler can range from £500 to £2,500.

If you currently have a gas boiler installed and it is all working fine then don’t panic as you won’t be expected to have it replaced with an alternative any time soon. However, if your gas boiler did develop a fault in the next few years then you might want to consider replacing it with an alternative to gas. However, there is plenty of information out there for you to access that can help you understand what decision you have to make. However, at this moment in time, you won’t need to consider an alternative, even if you do have to replace your boiler.