Ban new gas boilers from 2025 to reach net-zero

I just googled 'Jo Nova' after watching the first 5 mins of that video.

Right at the top of her wikipedia entry is:
"Joanne Nova is an Australian writer, blogger, and speaker. Born Joanne Codling, she adopted the stage name "Nova" in 1998 when she was preparing to host a children's television program. She is prominent for promoting climate change denial."
 
Jokester said:
They've been replacing the national gas grid with welded plastic pipes for years now. I would be more worried about the quality of the domestic copper braised piping joints.

Plans are already in place to start putting H2 into the gas grid in a couple of years time at low levels, it'll no doubt be increased over time to higher %s.
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I work in the plastic pipe industry - we do quality assurance for welded MDPE/HDPE on gas/water mains through integrating directly into thsoe welding machines (bluetooth + apps) to capture raw data and use a mixture of humans/AI to score the quality/longevity of the install.

Welded plastic pipes should last for around 200 years (if done properly, months/years if not). A lot longer than mechanical connections with gaskets etc. And a lot longer than the ~30 year old copper pipes in my house that are slowly starting to go all over the place :p
 
alex24 said:
I guess we can either obtain some kind of net-zero gas or alternative that can burn in current equipment, or move to a new technology.

I think it's a good idea, clearly burning stuff from the ground isn't a sustainable or sensible move, however it will need a lot of government help and support. If we were smart about it, we could create a new industry in the UK to support this, generating value and helping those displaced. Those who think this is a bad idea need to think bigger. We have to fix the climate problem and it won't happen by continuing what we do now or just moving the problem somewhere else or hoping electric cars and planting trees will do. It's going to take lots of little things all over the place to start to live sustainably.

At a minimum, if we are serious they should be banned in new builds and other sustainable design should be employed so that all new houses or flats can be run on renewable energy somewhat efficiently. Once again, that has to come from government. Problem we have is current government favours big business (inc. house builders) who could potentially lose out. So I doubt we'll see much change anytime soon.
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I don't think you've thought about it, honestly. There isn't some new solution waiting in the wings, unless you consider hydrogen. Even then, you'll need gas boilers.
 
It makes sense for new builds as they're already laying pipework etc for the infrastructure of whatever alternatives will be used.

But when you consider BT have been spending the last 20 years rolling out high-speed broadband (which has no concept of flooding a road, or leaking a dangerous/flammable substance) and they still haven't been able to connect every home. I very much doubt they'll be able to achieve the same thing for conventional boilers.

I definitely advocate for new/better/greener technology, but at the end of the day the consumer is not going to want to double their electricity bill just to move away from gas boilers.
 
My gas bill on average is £12 a month.

I don't want electric heating because it would cost a lot more.

I thought I had until 2035 to no longer be allowed a new gas boiler though, 2025 is for new houses.

The prices I got for solar panels were ludicrous, I wouldn't make the cost back in over 40 years. If they want to move everyone to electric then it should also be required to provide solar panels on all roofs - I don't get why the government is so opposed to this.
 
I believe the UK has already banned gas boilers for new builds. Can’t remember the initiation date though.
Hydrogen is just too dangerous for domestic heating Changing the boiler is childs play making the end to end system resilient enough, much harder.
Electric boilers are going to need large thermal stores and modern pokey homes will no doubt struggle to fit them in.
We have a fun few years ahead.
 
Pho said:
I work in the plastic pipe industry - we do quality assurance for welded MDPE/HDPE on gas/water mains through integrating directly into thsoe welding machines (bluetooth + apps) to capture raw data and use a mixture of humans/AI to score the quality/longevity of the install.

Welded plastic pipes should last for around 200 years (if done properly, months/years if not). A lot longer than mechanical connections with gaskets etc. And a lot longer than the ~30 year old copper pipes in my house that are slowly starting to go all over the place :p
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I wanted to run some cable through plastic pipe for mechanical and weather protection, but I was amazed how few of them are rated for outdoor use. Apparantly I was OK to bury them, but sun exposure (UV presumably) appeared to kill them quickly. Why is this when the 150mm waste pipe appear just the same and can stand full outdoor exposure?
 
PlacidCasual said:
I believe the UK has already banned gas boilers for new builds. Can’t remember the initiation date though.
Hydrogen is just too dangerous for domestic heating Changing the boiler is childs play making the end to end system resilient enough, much harder.
Electric boilers are going to need large thermal stores and modern pokey homes will no doubt struggle to fit them in.
We have a fun few years ahead.
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It is 2025 for new build gas boiler ban, 2035 for no more replacement gas boilers.

If an electric boiler can't simply fit into the space of an old gas one, and still costs many times more than gas, good luck getting them into all the usual matchbox sized homes and having people accept the change.
 
The article isn't government policy, just some think tank putting out their view, I'm not sure why its being discussed as such.

It's 2025 for new builds only which makes sense and really should be earlier as there isn't any good reason to delay this for new developments, property developers didn't need 6 years to get ready for this change. The additional costs of installing ASHP/GSHP into new builds is negligible and wouldn't even be noticed in the purchase price.

The 2035 date isn't confirmed, its only been floated as a potential date but it relies on technology or incentives which don't exist to implement as already said in this thread. There isn't a credible plan on how this can be achieved, hence its not yet government policy.
 
Most of the big players have 100% hydrogen ready boilers. They have trialled injecting 20% hydrogen into the existing pipelines already and that has gone well. Hydrogen will be the fuel of the future, there is some serious weight behind it now. Its far more realistic than retrofitting solar or heatpumps to existing properties.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
The 2035 date isn't confirmed, its only been floated as a potential date but it relies on technology or incentives which don't exist to implement as already said in this thread. There isn't a credible plan on how this can be achieved, hence its not yet government policy.
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Thats a relief to know, I was stressing over how I would be able to manage a forced transition by 2035. If it did go through as such, I would likely have planned to buy a new gas boiler the year before and keep it as long as possible.
 
BallistixOnZ490 said:
Thats a relief to know, I was stressing over how I would be able to manage a forced transition by 2035. If it did go through as such, I would likely have planned to buy a new gas boiler the year before and keep it as long as possible.
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2 mins on google would have resolved that stress instead of reading the nonsense sometimes posted on here :p.

There are two ways the this is likely to go when the time comes:
1) They'll be chucking money at the problem in a few years when they realise there never going to reach the target.
2) They will likely start pricing people out of gas so its no longer the 'cheap' option, call it a carbon offset levy.

I really wouldn't be stressing over it given the other things you've mentioned in previous threads, I'd expect the state would cover the cost for you either way.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
2 mins on google would have resolved that stress instead of reading the nonsense sometimes posted on here :p.

There are two ways the this is likely to go when the time comes:
1) They'll be chucking money at the problem in a few years when they realise there never going to reach the target.
2) They will likely start pricing people out of gas so its no longer the 'cheap' option, call it a carbon offset levy.

I really wouldn't be stressing over it given the other things you've mentioned in previous threads, I'd expect the state would cover the cost for you either way.
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Well it was google articles that initially had me believing I would need a non gas boiler after 2035.

Everyone also thinking that new builds should already not have gas heating - my monthly gas bill of £12 on average could end up costing over £40 on electrical heating. Maybe thats nothing to normal people, my thermostat is set to 16-17c all year round because I'm poor.
 
BallistixOnZ490 said:
Well it was google articles that initially had me believing I would need a non gas boiler after 2035.

Everyone also thinking that new builds should already not have gas heating - my monthly gas bill of £12 on average could end up costing over £40 on electrical heating. Maybe thats nothing to normal people, my thermostat is set to 16-17c all year round because I'm poor.
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You are better off searching for and reading the source material, not media articles about it.

What are you basing that cost on?

A heat pump up to 5 times more efficient than a gas boiler (more like 3.5-4 in the real world) but electric is 4-5 times more expensive than gas. The difference in running costs isn’t that dramatic and you will not have to pay that £80+/year standing charge for gas.

The issue with switching people over is the costs to retrofit and any remedial works required to insulate the property, it’s prohibitively expensive but that doesn’t mean doing it from scratch is that much more than the conventional way.
 
Probably not but the ban is for new builds and a new build will come with a heat pump as standard so you don’t need to worry about it.

There is no plan yet for existing housing stock.
 
Flake87 said:
I wanted to run some cable through plastic pipe for mechanical and weather protection, but I was amazed how few of them are rated for outdoor use. Apparantly I was OK to bury them, but sun exposure (UV presumably) appeared to kill them quickly. Why is this when the 150mm waste pipe appear just the same and can stand full outdoor exposure?
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I don't know too much about the material side of things (I just do the techy bits) but what type of plastic was the pipe you were looking at, standard white PVC? I think if you paint it then it should be fine - we don't deal with PVC at all mind.

I guess the problem is it's extremely thin walled. If you go for a thicker pipe, e.g., in MDPE/HDPE then I guess it'll be fine for a long(er) time. JG speedfit 15mm PVC has a 1.5mm wall thickness whereas 32mm MDPE is 3mm.

If you're only running cables through it then I guess the odd crack after a few years isn't the end of the world. If it were running gas or water, it probably would :p

It's similar for electric cable - finding the proper stuff for outdoor isn't that simple, but it'll probably be fine with normal household flex - clipped to a wall, not underground etc.
 
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