• My goal is to provide services that will facilitate hydrogen-ready boiler installations and upgrades to make existing boilers “green” as the government implements its “net zero” decarbonisation.

  • Ben has been installing and servicing gas boilers in North London for over ten years as part of Tollington Co.

    Tollington Plumbing and Heating offers a high quality of service for boiler installations, servicing, boiler repairs, central heating power flushing and unvented hot water.

  • ben@tollington.co

    NORTH LONDON
    In order to maintain a responsive commitment to our clients we prioritise customers from Islington, Hackney, Haringey, and Camden.

“Will I have to replace my boiler with a heat pump?”

“I’ve heard that a heat pump may not work in my house, and also that gas boilers are going to be banned. What are my choices?”

 
 

When it comes to the subject of decarbonisation of our domestic heating and hot water, there is a lot to consider and still many unknowns. But one thing is clear: as domestic heating is currently the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, we all need to play our part to decarbonise the way we heat our homes. The government has laid out the path to ‘net zero’. On the way to eradicating the release of CO2 into the atmosphere through heating, we have targets to meet that will require homeowners to switch to alternative technologies for heating and hot water.

What does “net-zero” mean for homeowners?

 

I have been installing and servicing gas boilers in North London for over ten years, and recently I hear many questions like those above. This has led me to read up on this subject and start this webpage. It’s June 2022, and most specialists in the decarbonisation of heating technologies seem to agree that we are not bound to one solution to the challenge.

 
“There are two options for low Carbon heating; heat pumps which are available today and hydrogen, which is currently being trialled and tested.”
— Klaus Jesse, MD of Vaillant UK, the leading heating product manufacturer in September 2021’s decarbonisation White Paper
 
 

Maybe you are reading this because you are questioning the suitability and cost of the options for your future heating system. Electric boilers rely on electricity that is not, on the most part, produced by 'renewable' means and, even factoring in the sharp rise in gas prices, they are unable to deliver the comparatively low cost performance of a gas boiler. You may have discovered that heat pumps deliver low flow temperatures unable to heat a house using radiators. Underfloor heating requires floors to be lifted and high installation costs. All heat pumps require the heat loss of the dwelling to be below a level that most current housing stock cannot meet without significant alteration. The purpose of this website then is to summarise the developments and gauge interest in one of the alternative solutions; hydrogen-ready gas boilers.

The path to “Green” hydrogen

 

Of course, there will be several developmental stages before we have boilers that can run on 100% “green” hydrogen:

  • There are currently two testing sites in Fife and Winlaton.

  • As with the transition from 'Town Gas' to Natural Gas in the late 1960's, this will involve areas being converted in sections and repairs to the current infrastructure to support the introduction of the new fuel.

  • A welcome and necessary step to our conversion to Green Gas, the gas blend would result in significant and immediate reduction in CO2 emissions with no work required to the majority of existing gas boilers.

  • Read more about the hydrogen colour spectrum at nationalgrid.com.

  • The firm plans to be able to start producing replacement components that can be installed to existing boilers to convert them to run on 100% hydrogen; no carbon emissions (at the point of use) at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions.

 This last step is where I feel gas installers like myself can contribute most effectively. Vaillant Group have a development work stream dedicated to the creation of the world’s first domestic hydrogen boiler. By as early as 2025 Vaillant plan to be able to produce components that can be fitted by a registered gas installer making existing gas boilers run on 100% hydrogen. The only product of combustion is water vapour!

Helping you future-proof

 

In summary, in the not-too-distant future there will be significant gains to be made environmentally and economically by choosing a Hydrogen-ready boiler for your future zero-carbon heating and hot water system.

A safe and clean hydrogen gas boiler may be a wonderful reality for a significant proportion of UK households.

As a registered gas installer, I want to help keep people informed of these exciting technological developments while providing services that will facilitate Hydrogen-ready boiler installations and upgrades to make existing boilers ‘green’.

Contact

Please fill out the form below if you would like to register your interest in, when the technology is ready, installing a hydrogen-ready boiler, or modifying your existing boiler to make your boiler “green”.

I will get in touch when we know more about when the programme can start and components are on the market. I am a full-time gas installer, so I may not have time for regular updates, and I will not be spamming you with lots of messages!