The UK unit of EDF has launched a heat-pump tracker tariff in the United Kingdom that it guarantees will never charge customers more than the country’s price cap.
The tariff, which is available to new and existing customers with any heat pump technology, is a UK first, according to EDF. It offers six hours of zero-carbon electricity per day.
Customers that switch to the tariff can expect to save at least GBP 164 per year, EDF said, with greater savings for shifting consumption to the off-peak windows of 4 am (BST) to 7 am and 1 pm to 4 pm. Off-peak discounts will apply to all electricity usage in homes, so customers can benefit from unit rates, which are cheaper than the price cap for all appliances.
A recent EDF study of 2,000 people in the United Kingdom showed that only 2% of respondents had air-source heat pumps in their homes, while 26% said they plan to install air-source heat pumps within the next five years.
Heat pumps are carbon-friendly home heating solutions, but installation costs are seen as a drawback to many looking to transition. Research has indicated that installation costs will fall within the decade.
EDF estimates that for a three-bedroom home, a new heat pump could save up to GBP 260 per year in running costs, compared to old gas boilers.
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“We hope to support more customers with making the switch to greener technologies and, in doing so, reward them with further cash and carbon savings,” said EDF Managing Director for Customers Philippe Commaret.
The UK government previously outlined plans to install 600,000 heat pumps by 2028. At the end of last year, new government proposals made under its Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation called for heat pumps to be standard within all new homes by 2025. Further guidance is expected later this year.
An ongoing government-funded boiler upgrade scheme, offering cash incentives to transition from traditional boilers to heat pumps, saw a threefold increase in applications in its latest round.
Earlier this year, researchers from the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford concluded that heat pumps could lift people out of fuel poverty in the United Kingdom.
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