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I think it’ll be hydrogen for a start, the manufacturers are already having the boilers ready for a hydrogen blend in the gas.
The issue with hydrogen is it’s expensive as fuck to make.
ASHP works great in a new super insulated house but for a retrofit I’d say it’s negligible because of the costs associated with it.
konastab01-
An important question is whether the available evidence supports a case for heating homes with
hydrogen. This paper reviews independent analyses on the use of hydrogen for space and how
water heating. Independent in this context is defined as “not carried out by or on behalf of a
specific industry (e.g. gas, oil, electricity, heat pumps, boiler manufacturers)”. The review
includes a total of 32 studies carried out at international, regional, national, state and city-level
by a wide range of different organisations including universities, research institutes, intergovernmental organisations such as the IPCC2 and the IEA1 and consulting firms. Industry-
funded studies have been excluded because such studies are often carried out on behalf of industry groups in order to support a position that suits their vested interests. This is not to say
that there are no robust analyses funded by industry but for the purpose of this review of
independent evidence they have been excluded.
The evidence assessment shows that the widespread use of hydrogen for heating is not supported
by any of the 32 studies identified in this review. Instead, existing independent research so far
suggests that, compared to other alternatives such as heat pumps, solar thermal and district heating, hydrogen use for domestic heating is less economic, less efficient, more resource intensive, and associated with larger environmental impacts.
gillies
it's either going be ASHP, heat networks, or hydrogen retrofit
I'm not convinced by the latter two for different reasons so for me it's a question of when, not if for ASHP. That of course might not change the calculus for whether it's right for you as a professional, though. FWIW I've heard HeatGeek is a very good training course for this stuff.
More widely it's not great for the UK how behind the workforce is on this stuff. I tried to have a discussion with the last two plumber/heat guys we had round about wanting to set my boiler at 50c flow temp now I have large k33 rads installed. They both looked at me funny, but the boiler actually condenses now and runs much more efficiently, and the house still stays warm!