carbon limited

In the last post, I flagged up the fact that no heat meters will be fitted to homes on heat networks under the Energy Efficiency Directive. This is because, no matter what inputs you feed into DECC’s calculation tool, the output is always the same: heat meters aren’t viable.

As a result, around 300k homes with unmetered connections will continue to pay a flat fee regardless of how much heat they use, robbing them of control over spending and giving them no incentive to save.

In this post, I’ll show that heat meters are viable in a typical block of flats. I’ll also show how a single unrealistic assumption in the DECC calculation tool pretty much guarantees that the computer says no, every time.

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That’s right. None. Zero. Zilch.

This is because, using DECC’s calculation tool, there are no cases in which the retrofit of residential heat meters is considered “financially viable.” No matter what numbers you feed into the calculation tool, the output for homes on heat networks is always the same:

Heat meters are NOT viable on an average building(s) of this type.

This means that the EU Energy Efficiency Directive has just been rendered toothless. Huge savings from behaviour change and efficiency improvements will not be realised. The 75% of people on heat networks with unmetered connections will continue to pay a flat fee regardless of how much heat they use, robbing them of control over spending and giving them no incentive to save. At the same time, heat network operators will be forced to engage in needless calculations and reporting, the outcome of which was decided before they even downloaded the calculation tool.

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