Pipework needed to be routed from the couple’s garage through the loft. All the radiators had to be upgraded. A team of six workers would take more than a week to complete it. Some homes will need extra insulation, and perhaps double glazing, in order to make the work efficient. A chap in charge of the project appeared to say both that the average cost would be about £10,000, and that this couple’s installation was an average project, so that was clear as mud.
Ackerley told us that “you can’t just whack up the temperature” with a heat pump, but didn’t explain this in any detail. No wonder only 60,000 of them were taken up last year – against a government target of 600,000 being installed every year by 2028. BBC climate editor Justin Rowlatt was granted an audience with Graham Stuart, Minister of State for Energy, Security and Net Zero (the poor man drew the short straw there), but their conversation was profoundly unenlightening.
Some of the BBC’s critics accuse it of pushing the net zero agenda. If that was the intention here, it failed: in 15 minutes, it convinced me to avoid heat pumps like the plague, just as last week’s episode made me feel more protective than ever of my ancient, petrol car.
