Households with clean technology that include heat pumps, solar panels and domestic cargo for electric cars could save £ 37,000 in 15 years, suggests a report.
But the high initial costs of adopting green technologies are a barrier to most people, with 92% of those in the lowest income they feel they are “out of reach”, warns the investigation of the OVO energy company.
The company is asking for a low -cost subsidies and loans to help people make the change to green technology, particularly low -income households, as well as a social tariff to support vulnerable people through the transition from the United Kingdom to clean energy.
And it joins generalized calls to reduce the cost of electricity, which is significantly more expensive than gas due partly to the high costs of policies added to energy invoices, to further encourage the switch to electric heat pumps and cars.
The OVO report, which has been reviewed by academics from Exeter, Leeds and Stirling universities, warns that it delays the change to clean technology that is essential for the United Kingdom efforts to reduce climatic emissions has a great financial impact for homes.
Look at six green measures: heat pumps, home insulation, solar panels, leased electric vehicles (EV), a homemade EV loader and an intelligent meter.
The average home that installs all measures would pay, after incentives, around £ 15,500 to make the green change.
But they would obtain the return of their investment in five years, with savings in the invoices of the insulation, the efficient heat pumps, the solar energy generated by the house, the storage of the energy battery and the electric vehicles that are cheaper to function than the gasoline equivalents that total around £ 17,600 at that time, the study suggests.
And 15 years after installation, net savings could add more than £ 37,000.
Even if you take into account the cost of inflation and loans to invest in green technology, net savings could add more than £ 23,000 for 15 years, according to the report.
However, the survey for the report also found that almost three quarters of people (72%) cited the initial costs as their main reason to delay the adoption of green technology, with two thirds (67%) that need to prioritize immediate financial needs on long -term savings.
And 92% of households with an annual income of less than £ 30,000 in the survey said that green technologies feel “out of reach” financially.
That is despite almost four fifth (78%) of the more than 4,000 people surveyed by partners who say they wanted to decarbonize their home even more.
People who live in private rental houses are in a particular link, and 81% feel “trapped in housing inefficient in energy” with the owners not encouraged to pay the initial costs when their tenants will be made the savings of invoices.
There was also a lack of knowledge about green technologies, with only 41% of households in the conscious survey of heat pumps could reduce their energy invoices over time, and 64% of the respondents were confused about which technologies would be most suitable for their home.
But together with the financial savings that clean technology can offer, there is increasing evidence of energy efficiency can increase the value of the properties, reduce exposure to sudden markets in the market and improve daily life, for example, making houses more comfortable, according to the report.
David Buttress, Executive Director of Ovo, said: “We have met in a false debate.
“Net Zero is part of as expensive and unrealistic, but the data is clear: not decarbonising will cost homes and the country much more.
“We talked incessantly about the cost of the action and invest in net-zero, but the real crisis is the cost of inaction and the investment that our energy system would require even without zero net updates.
“We need to get away from the endless debate and accept that there is a clear economic reason to move on to clean energy sources.”
Dr. Maximilian Gerrath, from the University of Leeds, said that consumers were not only making economic decisions about green technology, “are sailing through a maze of fear, complexity and inertia.”
“To accelerate decarbonization, we must make green houses not only affordable, but easy, visible and aspirational.
“Most people do not resist green updates because they don't like them, they resist because the benefits are distant, while costs are immediate,” he said.
Nick Davies, chief of climate policy at Green Alliance Environmental Think Tank, said: “The improvement of our houses with clean technology is not only good for the planet, it is also good for our long -term banking balances.
“This research shows how large the green house bonus can be for households that change to clean technology such as solar energy, home load and heat pumps.
“We need more homes to access government support or finance to cover the initial costs of these improvements, so that more people can enjoy the benefits to save cash from clean technology.”
A department of Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: “These findings show that families can save thousands of pounds every year by improving their houses, protecting them from the energy price peaks caused by fossil fuel volatile markets.
“We are investing £ 13.2 billion to improve up to five million homes on this Parliament, while we support the industry to develop financing models that can eliminate the initial cost completely, which helps more homes to make the change to cleaner heating in a way that works for them.”
