The Greens’ heat pump plan won’t work

‘I’m literally in the process of getting quotes’ may well make it into the pantheon of feeble political excuses alongside ‘I did not inhale’ or ‘I was just watching badgers’. They were the words uttered by Green party co-leader Carla Denyer to explain why her home is still heated with a gas boiler rather than a heat pump – something her party advocates for others. She went on to say that she has some quotes for heat pumps in her email inbox but that she has had to put the project ‘on pause’ during the general election campaign.

When Denyer does get around to opening those emails – which I suspect won’t be in the flat above No. 10 – she may gain insight into why most homeowners have been resistant to politicians trying to persuade them to install a heat pump. She may also come to realise why her own party’s manifesto is somewhat over-hopeful in what it aims to achieve.

Up until the end of April this year, the government had paid out on 34,016 applications under its Boiler Upgrade Scheme – which offers grants of up to £7,500 to homeowners to install heat pumps.