29/04/2026
We've been working on hybrid heating systems as the sensible alternative to full-on air source heating for some time. Some of the rules have changed and we thought we'd share some thoughts:
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ, ๐๐๐ข, ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ.
Now that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme has changed, air-to-air heat pumps are eligible, EPC requirements have been relaxed, and greater flexibility has been introduced for heat pumps alongside other electric appliances.
Good. But one line has not moved.
Fossil-fuel hybrid systems remain outside BUS.
The governmentโs position is clear. Fine. But grant eligibility is not the same as good heating advice.
Inta is firmly pro-heat pump. In new-build homes and suitable retrofits, a full air source heat pump installation is the right answer. Nobody serious is arguing otherwise.
But the UKโs housing stock is not made up of easy retrofits. Millions of older homes were built around high-temperature heating, combi boilers, existing radiator systems and decades of customer expectation. Some can move fully to heat pumps easily. Others can, but only at a cost, disruption level and confidence threshold that stops the decision dead.
That is where heat-pump-led hybrid systems matter.
They are not an argument against electrification. They are a route into electrification for homes where the alternative is not a full heat pump this year. It is another decade of boiler-only heating.
Recent Worcester Bosch and The University of Salford research showed a properly configured hybrid delivering a weighted average of 94% of annual heat demand from the heat pump, with a 1,270kg COโ reduction against a boiler-only baseline.
That is not token decarbonisation. It is a substantially electrified heating system, with the boiler kept in reserve for when it is genuinely needed.
The test should be simple: more heat pumps fitted, less gas burned, and homeowners who would otherwise wait a decade making the move now.
That matters more than whether a system fits neatly into a grant category.Heat-pump-led hybrids still deserve to be taken seriously. The industry should say so.
