Leading trade body, Energy and Utilities Alliance, has today applauded the Government for announcing its intention to switch UK boilers from natural gas to hydrogen-ready gas boilers.

These boilers will become mandatory from 2026, under plans announced today. A hydrogen-ready boiler, out of its box, will run on natural gas and at the point when the gas network switched to hydrogen, it can be converted in the home to use 100 per cent hydrogen. This conversion is similar to the 1960s conversion from Towns Gas (a 50:50 mix of methane and hydrogen) to natural gas, and takes under an hour.

Converting the boiler in the home avoids costly alternative appliances having to be fitted (the average cost of a heat pump installation is currently £13,000) and avoids any disruption and upheaval in the home. Radiators can stay where they are and there is no need to find space for a hot water tank.

Hydrogen-ready boilers will be sold at the same price as natural gas boilers, as a result of the UK boiler manufacturers ‘price promise’ made in 2021.

Commenting on the announcement, the EUA’s CEO Mike Foster said:

“Mandating hydrogen-ready boilers is an important step towards decarbonising homes. The Government is absolutely right to support this no-regrets option. Boiler manufacturers have already made their ‘price promise’ so that a new hydrogen-ready boiler will cost the same as a natural gas appliance. So this means 1.7 million homes a year will be ready for net zero at no extra cost to the consumer.

“There are currently around 23 million homes using gas boilers in the UK, simply allowing the natural replacement cycle to take place means that by 2040 every home would be ready to see natural gas replaced with hydrogen. At scale, this system-led decarbonisation of homes delivers exactly what the government needs – hitting net zero at the lowest cost and least disruption to the consumer.

“This policy means that British workers will still make boilers for British homes, rather than importing other appliances. It is at the very heart of a ‘just transition’ to a net zero world. They will then use hydrogen produced right here, ceasing our reliance on the global gas market that Putin has wreaked havoc with.”