From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Ian Cunningham

When they lose Dale Vince, you know Labour are in trouble!

From the Telegraph:

Dale Vince, a leading Labour donor, said that heat pumps don’t “save you money” as he criticised the “mis-selling” of the devices.

Heat pumps, which are promoted as a green alternative to traditional gas boilers, form a key part of Ed Miliband’s £15bn energy plan, which was announced last week.

It aims to install solar panels, heat pumps, double glazing and insulation in five million low-income households, at a £5bn cost to the taxpayer. Landlords also face a bill of up to £10,000 by 2030 under energy efficiency plans designed to push through upgrades.

But speaking to BBC Politics Live on Tuesday, Mr Vince, the founder of energy firm Ecotricity, said: “I have been using heat pumps for about 20 years, so I know what they can do and what they can’t do.

“I do object to the fairly general narrative that they can save you money, because that is a very rare circumstance. You do need a well-insulated home just to break even.”

Mr Vince, who has in the past funded activist groups including Just Stop Oil, said that to be cost-effective, a heat pump needs to have a coefficient of performance of at least four. Coefficiency performance is the measurement of how much heat is produced per unit of electricity used.

He claimed that for heat pumps in the UK, the average was just 2.8, which meant homeowners tended to see their bills increase by 30pc.

Mr Vince said: “That’s the reality. Against that, we have got the mis-selling, I think, of heat pumps.”

Full story here.

DESNZ have responded that households which installed a heat pump, solar panels and a battery could save as much as £550 a year compared with a gas boiler. A spokesman said that heat pumps can save households as much as £130 a year.

As we already know, the claim of £130 savings is fake – the Govt’s own figures confirm heat pumps will add about £400 to bills.

As for the £550 saving, let’s remember that to install a heat pump, solar panels, batteries and insulation will set you back about £30,000, making it a 54-year payback!