Tory U-Turn on green policies

growstuff
You are right to insist on getting the house you are moving into properly insulated. Our forty year old house has excellent insulation. Thick insulation in the roof, walls filled, and windows all replaced with double glazing. The gas boiler is modern and efficient. The house is cosy and warm in the winter, helped in the living area by having three windows which catch all the sun and heat the living room and our bedroom without any heating on at all, providing the sun is shining, which it often is, even in the winter.
It sounds as though a new heating system in your partner’s house will help too.

I know no one is forcing anyone to change their heating system now. However the fact remains that eventually (no longer by 2035) everyone will have to change their heating systems. It’s pointless to argue it’s not coming because it is. And it’s going to cost ordinary people a very lot of money, that many can’t afford.

People who live in flats won't be getting heat pumps

Don’t feel deprived growstuff. We have two bins - landfill and recycling. We pay for a third bin for garden waste.

We have 2 big wheelie bins - paper/card and general waste, plus a box type one for glass and plastic, and a food waste bin. All except food waste (weekly) are collected on alternate weeks.

Green garden waste bins are IIRC charged at £60 a year, so we (or rather dh) take it to the tip.

Germanshepherdsmum

Don’t feel deprived growstuff. We have two bins - landfill and recycling. We pay for a third bin for garden waste.

I forgot - some people have yellow bags as well for clinical waste, including disposable nappies.

growstuff

Casdon

Not sure what you mean? The food waste bin is small, solid plastic and secure because it has a lock tight lid, and you don’t put any food waste in any of the other bins, so there’s nothing for foxes.

Same here! My food waste bin is small and lock tight.

Ours too. If closed properly it’s fox-proof.
And any scraps of meat or fish - or a chicken carcass after I’ve stripped it and boiled it up for stock - go in a bag in the freezer until the night before the bin men come. Especially important in summer, but I do it year-round anyway.

Thank goodness I don’t need those yet!

Green garden waste bins are IIRC charged at £60 a year
£50 here, some people have two!
But let us 'borrow' space 🙂

Yes, I paid just over £50 last year. Doubtless it will be more next time. There’s a very big place up the road that has three! 😱

maddyone

growstuff
You are right to insist on getting the house you are moving into properly insulated. Our forty year old house has excellent insulation. Thick insulation in the roof, walls filled, and windows all replaced with double glazing. The gas boiler is modern and efficient. The house is cosy and warm in the winter, helped in the living area by having three windows which catch all the sun and heat the living room and our bedroom without any heating on at all, providing the sun is shining, which it often is, even in the winter.
It sounds as though a new heating system in your partner’s house will help too.

I know no one is forcing anyone to change their heating system now. However the fact remains that eventually (no longer by 2035) everyone will have to change their heating systems. It’s pointless to argue it’s not coming because it is. And it’s going to cost ordinary people a very lot of money, that many can’t afford.

Won't gas be available by 2035? I didn't know that.

I think from what I’ve heard that you won’t be able to have a gas boiler fitted from 2035.
But I think you know that

Katie59

Whatever type of heating you choose insulation comes first, for many/most older houses that will mean dry lining the outside walls and double/triple glazing, that makes an enormous difference.
We refurbished an apartment last year dry lining walls and a new combi boiler, a massive improvement but it cost 3 yrs rent to do it. There comes a time when if the structure is sound you have to spend the money.

I agree with you. Renting out a habitable flat or house comes with costs. Too many people seem to think they can rent out any property without spending on it because there's such a shortage of housing.

maddyone

I think from what I’ve heard that you won’t be able to have a gas boiler fitted from 2035.
But I think you know that

But if you've already got one, you can continue to use it. Quite honestly, many people need to start thinking about replacing heating systems over the next 11 years anyway. And I still don't know about not replacing a gas boiler in an older building. All I know is that new builds can't be fitted with them, but I don't know about any deadline for existing buildings.

I dont suppose anyone has considered that the next election could result in a hung parliament. Therefore some of these regulations may be simply kicked into the long grass because no one will have the majority to pass them.

maddyone

Grantanow

I had a survey done by a reputable firm to assess the costs of a heat pump and insulation. It came to about £15,000 for the heat pump and larger radiators and about £10,000 for insulation. The grant was £5,000. I put in a new condensing gas boiler at £2,000. Sunak's increased grant of £7,500 comes nowhere near persuading me otherwise. And there's all the decorative costs afterwards. He and the net zero lobby are out of touch.

This!
And add to that the cost.
It doesn’t matter if it’s now, not now, in five, ten, or fifteen years, people are not going to magically be able to afford this. I understand that many Gransnetters can afford it, but many other Gransnetters can’t, and neither can the vast majority of the population, who are already struggling with the cost of living, using food banks, and saying they can’t afford to buy school uniforms for their children. Young people are barely able to afford houses apparently, but hey presto, they’ll all be magically able to afford this outlay to install heat pumps whenever their boilers fail.

And that’s without discussing how poor heat pumps are at the job they’re actually supposed to do- heat your home!

Where are you getting the idea that only way to improve energy efficiency is to install heat pumps?

My partner has now had a quote to lag his loft properly and it was just over £700, which we'll save in energy bills within a year and improve the EPC rating immediately.

maddyone

I think from what I’ve heard that you won’t be able to have a gas boiler fitted from 2035.
But I think you know that

That is the current policy but don’t be surprised if there is a change to that, it’s only 12 yrs away and there is no way that all homes are going to be insulated well enough to heat on electricity alone. First we need to get all new builds without gas heating, currently almost all have gas boilers.

biglouis

I dont suppose anyone has considered that the next election could result in a hung parliament. Therefore some of these regulations may be simply kicked into the long grass because no one will have the majority to pass them.

They've already been passed. The question is whether Sunak has the right to abandon them.

I watched a documentary about heat pumps. Someone who was fitting one in a house which required £14k to make it happen, pointed out that there are simply not enough qualified fitters currently to undertake the work. Will there be in now 12 years time I wonder.
Also, even though orices may come down, there will be many who simply will not be able to afford either air heat pumps or electric cars.

*prices

Katie59

maddyone

I think from what I’ve heard that you won’t be able to have a gas boiler fitted from 2035.
But I think you know that

That is the current policy but don’t be surprised if there is a change to that, it’s only 12 yrs away and there is no way that all homes are going to be insulated well enough to heat on electricity alone. First we need to get all new builds without gas heating, currently almost all have gas boilers.

In 12 years, there's always the possibility that there will be other technology available.

There's also the possibility that a government will give grants, so that people can insulate their homes better. Who knows?

There might be alternatives to having a heat pump fitted but they are all very expensive and most people will not be able to afford them.

Keeper1

There might be alternatives to having a heat pump fitted but they are all very expensive and most people will not be able to afford them.

If technology has not resolved the conundrum - it will particularly with labour government green investment - then undoubtedly there will be grants for those less well off.

I've got 7 bins and I'm in England, to be fair, they are a left over from my home dialysis days but I've got room for them. I hate to think where people who live in terraced houses would put them all though.

I still don't see what achieving Net Zero would accomplish though, with the likes of India and China not even trying.

It's easy for Sunak to delay things, just wait until we see if he's still PM this time next year, we'll see how long his changes last.

Nannapat1

I watched a documentary about heat pumps. Someone who was fitting one in a house which required £14k to make it happen, pointed out that there are simply not enough qualified fitters currently to undertake the work. Will there be in now 12 years time I wonder.
Also, even though orices may come down, there will be many who simply will not be able to afford either air heat pumps or electric cars.

Do you honestly think that people will have to do without any heating or cars? The market and training will have to adjust. Government intervention will be needed to make sure that progress will be made towards it aspirations.

Would you prefer that complacency rules and some people continue to live in cold houses and drive dirty cars?

Keeper1

There might be alternatives to having a heat pump fitted but they are all very expensive and most people will not be able to afford them.

It's not that expensive to insulate most houses effectively.

Currently, heat pumps are expensive, so maybe there should be incentives to develop other technology rather than the negativity of claiming there's no point because other countries are more polluting than the UK.

PS. There's money to be made out of green technology. The UK has the potential to be a world leader.