Showhome take a look into the heat pump, why it is growing popular, and its uses in the home environment
Here in the UK, we’re no strangers to having the central heating on for the majority of the year. Being known as a country that can have all four seasons in a single day, the central heating isn’t used sparingly, it is a necessity most months. Of course, with the recent cost of living and the soaring prices of bills, families have had to turn on their heating with caution. Most people were resorting to layering up inside the home, instead of having the heating on, due to the fear of racking up their bills even more. If turning the heating on, most households were ensuring that it was kept on for the least amount of time as possible. Of course, a lot of households have old heating systems which are more expensive to run. By upgrading the systems, there will already be a massive saving. Not only that, but more modern heating systems also have better energy efficiency, which is especially of importance to most homeowners in the modern day.
During the winter months, most UK residents keep warm using gas powered central heating. In a 2022 survey conducted by the UK Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), it found that 78% of respondents used this method of heating. The next most common heating source was electric, with a combined share of 5%. The share of households in the UK with central heating systems has increased significantly since 1970, when just 30% of households were fitted with central heating. By 2005, this figure had increased to 95%, and since then, figured have remained relatively consistent.
But moving into this decade, the cold isn’t the only extreme weather that the UK faces anymore. Over the last few years, summers in the UK have become almost unbearable. Year on year, the days in summer are getting drier and hotter. In 2022, England faced its hottest summer on record since records began in 1884, where temperatures reached 40.3 degrees Celsius in parts of Lincolnshire. Four of the five warmest summers on record for England have occurred since 2003, and this is a trend that is only set to continue happening.
Due to this, air conditioning is becoming more common in UK households and the market is set to continue growing as summers become hotter and hotter. According to research published by Statista, in 2021 the demand for air conditioning devices in the UK amounted to approximately 213,000 units, which is the highest number of the past decade. Within the last decade, demand for air conditioning has grown significantly, every year seeing increased demand from the last one. It is currently believed that 5% of UK homes have air conditioning installed, but trends predict that around 32% of UK households will install air conditioning by 2050. This is based on the current household air conditioning trends, but this number may be even larger by 2050 if the weather continues to get more extreme.
With this increase in extreme weather in summer, as well as the awful winters we are all used to having, the use of technology inside the home in order to maintain a healthy temperature inside the home is increasing. Household bills will remain high when technology is being used in order to cool or heat a home. So for this, more and more people want to opt for energy efficient air conditioning and heating for their homes, in order to both remain conscious of their bills, as well as to improve their personal carbon footprint. If using technology constantly, people don’t want their usage of these systems to become a strain on the environment, so energy efficient options in both of these markets are highly sought after, and for good reason. Showhome will be taking a look at the energy efficient options in the heating and air conditioning markets to see what is available currently, and the technologies that are developing in each sector…
Read the rest of this exclusive feature, and more, in our latest issue here.
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Anna Wood
Editor, Showhome
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