Why More Rural Households Are Considering Renewable Heating
Compared with national averages, households in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire are generally more likely to be off the gas grid and reliant on oil and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) for heating their homes. In fact, as of 2021, around 18% of Herefordshire’s properties relied on oil or LPG, with over 13,600 homes on oil-only heating and almost 3,000 on LPG-only. As of 2024, the South-West was the region ranked second highest for homes off the gas grid, at 24%.
Both oil and LPG are fossil fuels, which means they’re subject to the volatility of the global energy market and, as a result, increasingly expensive to use for heating a home. They’re also inconvenient, although households reliant on gas for their boilers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the cost and inefficiencies, too.
Oil and LPG dependent households are among the strongest cost cases for installing a heat pump, but there are still so many misconceptions out there about what makes for a strong ‘candidate’.
Here’s what you need to know about the transition.
Why oil and LPG households feel every price shock more than the rest of the country
Here’s something many homeowners only come to realise when they eventually get fed up with their extortionate winter bill: neither heating oil nor LPG prices are covered by the Ofgem Energy Price Cap. This means there are no protections in place, and those who are off the gas grid have no choice but to pay what they’re being charged.
In older stone properties lacking cavity wall insulation and triple-glazing, you have a perfect storm of conditions that make keeping a home warm a constant compromise.
Heat Pumps Can Offer Lower Running Costs Than Oil and LPG
LPG and oil are among the most expensive ways to heat a home in the UK, and the uncertainty for the future – exacerbated by the lack of protections from Ofgem – mean that future energy bills remain an unknown quantity.
Heat pumps can offer a more cost-effective alternative, particularly when properly designed and integrated into a broader system of renewable energy solutions for the house. Since they run on electricity rather than gas, oil, or LPG, they are the ideal pairing for domestic solar panels, offering separation from the national grid into an uncertain future.
No, the fabric doesn’t have to be perfect first
This is arguably one of the most common misconceptions – the idea that, to feel the benefit of a heat pump, you need to overhaul every part of the building until it’s perfectly leak proof, insulated to an inch, and stripped of any of its old character. We have worked on older cottages before, helping to make them comfortable and cost-efficient for homeowners and tenants.
It’s true that a building should be sufficiently energy efficient in order to ensure you actually feel the benefit of your investment, but a properly designed heat pump system can be very effective at keeping a home at a comfortable, even temperature, even if you’ve got a couple of drafty spots here and there.
When we visit your home, we can identify any potential problems that need to be addressed prior to installation, but don’t sweat the smaller issues before then.
Financial support is available
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant is currently offering £7,500 to eligible households looking to upgrade to an air-source heat pump, with an increased grant of £9,000 available to qualifying off-gas-grid households replacing oil or LPG heating systems.
Of course, eligibility and funds can change, so make sure you double-check before making any decisions one way or the other. The current uplift expires at the end of March 2027.
Heating performance is better with a heat pump system
Traditional boilers, whether they run on gas or LPG, heat a home in a way that is very inefficient and, often, uncomfortable. In the winter, homeowners get into a cycle of turning on the heating, waiting for radiators to slowly warm up, then turning it off again when the room gets too hot and dry. These short bursts of activity are energy-intensive and, over the course of weeks, very expensive.
Heat pumps operate differently, maintaining a steady, comfortable temperature throughout the home at all times rather than overheating it, then letting it get cold again.
The result? Less time spent fretting over the energy bill, choosing between extremes, and more time to simply enjoy being at home.
