According to The Guardian the report by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) widespread use of heat pump technology in the UK would lead to a 50 per cent increase in electricity use. Heat pumps need electricity to work, but generate more energy than they use.
They also found that relying on large-scale renewables on the electricity grid, and switching houses over to electric heating, would not work because of the difficulty of meeting peaks in demand.
“To attempt to meet the whole of such a load by renewables based on wind, tides or sun would require a level of installed capacity that would be almost impossible to build and that would be standing idle for most of the summer months, making energy very expensive,” said the report.
They called for a massive switch to renewable energy such as solar water heaters and wood-burning stoves to a street by street effort to upgrade insulation in Britain’s draughty homes.