Research obtained by British Gas indicates that switching to a heat pump can lower a household's emissions by 1,404 kilograms of C02 annually - equivalent to the emissions released by driving 4,544 miles in a typical petrol car.
Household heating totals nearly a third of the UK’s annual CO2 emissions –as much as all petrol and diesel cars combined. Heat pumps are regarded as the low-carbon future of home heating. The new calculator contextualises the CO2 savings by comparing the emissions saved with common CO2 emitters and off-setters, such as long-distance flights and carbon-absorbing trees.
The government has set a target of 600,000 homes to be switching to heat pumps every year by 2028. If that happens, the annual amount of C02 saved could be equivalent to the carbon produced by the Space X rocket launching 7,262 times and more…
The C02 savings would be equivalent to 2.4million Brits switching to a vegan diet for one year.
It would offset the emissions caused by 7,262 Space X rocket launches.
The emission savings are equivalent to the C02 produced by driving the circumference of the earth 109,482 times.
It would require 226 square miles of rainforest to absorb the same amount of carbon.
It would require 508,875 motorists switching from petrol to electric vehicles to save the same amount of C02 in one year.
It is equivalent to the emissions caused in the production of 60,171 barrels of oil.
British Gas generated its research findings by using the average energy usage for space heating and hot water in different sized homes, according to findings by Ofgem, and the emission efficiency ratios (CO₂ per kWh delivered) of different heating systems such as LPG, Oil, Mains Gas and Direct Electric according to the Energy Performance Validation Scheme. From this, British Gas calculated a household’s annual CO2 emissions produced for home heating and hot water.
This value was then compared against the CO2 emissions produced by the same property type with an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) heating system. The difference between the two final values is the amount of CO2 that can be saved by switching to an air source heat pump.
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