Your questions answered
Your questions answered
Your questions answered
Your questions answered
We’re here to answer your questions
Hydrogen is clean gas without the fuss but new energy can be confusing. We aim to help you figure it out.
Hydrogen is set to play a vital role in the way we heat our homes in the future, eventually replacing the natural gas we currently use as we look for long-term environmentally-friendly ways to save the planet and keep bills down.
The problem is – not enough people know about the benefits hydrogen can bring or the work already taking place to start the change.
Hydrogen can be produced in the UK and supplied through the same gas pipes already in our streets and going into our homes. Hydrogen boilers and cookers that work just as natural gas ones do today have already been developed.
The first hydrogen homes and villages are being trialled to find out how easy it will be to replace your current boiler and appliances to hydrogen-ready ones at the end of their natural lives. This switch will help create tens of thousands of jobs in the UK, reduce greenhouse gases and end our reliance on fossil fuels from overseas.
Large-scale changes to things we’re all used to take time – just ask the electric car makers. That’s why we want to make sure the public know about the hydrogen future now. This means we can plan ahead and start the investment needed today to make hydrogen convenient and affordable tomorrow.
The Government will make a decision in 2026 on what Britain’s new heating policy should be and we think households should feel part of that conversation by knowing hydrogen could be one option available to them.
The cost-of-living crisis has shown how important a long-term energy plan is, including a move away from overseas fossil fuels. That’s why we need to start talking about securing home-grown low carbon energy sooner rather than later to reduce our reliance on imported natural gas. Another cost-of-living crisis can be avoided but only if we start the conversation now.
Andy from High Efficiency Heating –‘If we can produce our own hydrogen in the future, with our own plans, set our own prices, it’s going to be a fantastic contribution to society.’
For support on the cost-of-living crisis you can visit help pages here.
Hydrogen is easy to find as it makes up the H in H2O – better known as water – along with being found in methane. There are lots of different ways of extracting hydrogen.
In the UK there are two main methods being developed to make our own hydrogen and not relying on shipping it in from other countries. The first is through electrolysis, which uses renewable power to split hydrogen from water. The second is splitting hydrogen from natural gas and storing the remaining carbon dioxide away.
The Government has set out rules to make sure future production reduces carbon emissions and is better than continuing to use natural gas. Growing the industry in the UK could also support up to 100,000 jobs in the sector.
Not just yet – unless you are lucky enough to live in one of the proposed hydrogen neighbourhoods and villages which will be the first places to use hydrogen.
With 22 million homes using natural gas for heating and hot water in the UK, not to mention the millions of gas hobs used to cook with, it will take some time to get low carbon solutions into every home. That’s why we are starting the conversation today.
We are confident the switch to hydrogen can work and the UK has history when it comes to this. In the 1970s the country successfully moved from Town Gas to Natural Gas to heat our homes and we think hydrogen is the next viable option for a greener future with minimal fuss.
The last natural gas shift took ten years to achieve and with more villages and even towns looking to use hydrogen we hope you will be able to use hydrogen soon too. The existing pipes can pump the new gas, the hydrogen boilers are in development, we just need the green light from Government to make it happen.
Yes, new boilers will be needed for homes to use 100% hydrogen. The benefit of a hydrogen-ready boiler is, it will fit in the same spot as your old one and manufacturers have committed to ensuring they will be the same price as a traditional boiler.
You also won’t need to upgrade your boiler until it runs to the end of its natural life.
So ‘if you just bought a new boiler, then the average life of it should be 15 years. So you don’t need to change anything over,’ says Daniel from Arton Heating and Plumbing.
Think of it like HD-Ready TVs that were introduced before the rollout of High Definition TV channels – they worked with the old and new technologies seamlessly and the speed of the switchover was done at a gradual pace region by region.
Manufacturers are already making and testing hydrogen-ready boilers, which can be easily converted to use 100% hydrogen in the future. These are expected to be ready for sale in large volumes from 2026. Boiler makers have said they will need at least three years to develop and produce the hydrogen-ready boilers at scale to keep prices low.
We expect that installing a new hydrogen-ready boiler will be just like installing a current natural gas boiler. It will fit in the same place and won’t need extra space in your home. There will be no need for additional fixtures, fittings or new radiators, meaning the cost of installation will be lower than other heating alternatives.
As emphasised by Andy, Baxter, Managing Director of High Efficiency Heating: ’it’s less disruption to the person and less disruption to the household.’
The UK Government is due to make a decision on whether all new boilers should be hydrogen ready later this year, in time for a full-scale rollout of hydrogen-ready boilers from 2026.
Most current gas cookers and hobs do not work with 100% hydrogen, and they will need to be adapted or replaced to use it. Many will work with a 20% hydrogen mix – which will be the first step towards 100% hydrogen. But, as with boilers, changes won’t be needed until the appliances reach the end of their natural lives.
New hydrogen cookers and hobs are in development and will work in the same way as those using natural gas. The Government is keen to encourage the industry to work on new appliance technology and we expect these to be ready before hydrogen comes to our homes.
The best part about getting a hydrogen boiler is there will be no difference to how your current boiler works. The thermostat and radiators will remain the same and you can still get the heat going as fast as you currently can. You won’t have to learn anything new to heat your home.
Natural gas will be replaced with hydrogen when we have a good supply of hydrogen and when we have strong coverage of hydrogen-ready boilers. We expect this to be from 2030 onwards if the Government approves the use of hydrogen. With boilers having a life span of 15 years, we can replace many with hydrogen-ready boilers as soon as they are available.
Figuring out the cost of hydrogen gas when the technology is in its infancy is difficult at this stage. We do know it will fall as efforts across the industry to develop new technology ramp up.
New technology always takes time to adapt. For example, the cost of harnessing wind power used to be unaffordable but today it is one of the cheapest forms of energy in the UK following years of investment and development. We see the same happening with hydrogen.
We also know that developing a hydrogen economy right here in the UK will protect households from some of the fluctuating energy costs we’ve seen in recent months because the country will have control over its supply.
Once it’s up and running, domestic hydrogen will become more affordable over time. We are not the only country looking at hydrogen. The UK Government is already working with countries across Europe, the US, Australia and Chile to make sure hydrogen can be affordable to households with an aim of it costing around the same price as natural gas before the recent energy price crisis.
The Government has said it believes hydrogen can play a key role for future energy needs. Ministers have produced a Hydrogen Strategy, setting out a path for the development of a hydrogen economy.
This includes an ambition to have ten gigawatts of hydrogen production capacity by 2030 – enough to heat more than two million homes every year – and Government departments have set up a series of funds to help the industry develop new technology.
They have also led programmes to develop hydrogen appliances for the home and set target dates for blending 20% hydrogen into the gas grid, alongside offering support for industry-led hydrogen villages and towns.
Trials are already underway to make sure it is safe for home use. The UK gas sector has a strong safety record and we believe will continue to improve this through the switch to hydrogen. The industry is working closely with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that the risks associated with hydrogen for heat are properly understood and managed by the gas networks. Unlike natural gas, hydrogen doesn’t include carbon, which eliminates the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning that can come from older appliances that run on natural gas.
The UK already has a history of using hydrogen for Town Gas in the 1960s and 1970s, which was made up of 50% hydrogen.
We expect industrial users like factories and power stations to receive hydrogen supplies first, followed by homes getting at first a blend of hydrogen and natural gas.
The gas networks then plan to extend hydrogen supplies to residential areas nearby. And at the same time start the conversion of the national grid gas system that runs the length of the country connecting up these hydrogen production sites.
We don’t know just yet who will get hydrogen first but, working with the Government, we expect to be able to produce a roadmap in the coming years.
Hello Hydrogen will help keep you informed of new developments in the transition to a hydrogen future. When your boiler needs replacing, you can expect to start seeing manufacturers offering hydrogen-ready versions in future years. But with the ease of the switch to hydrogen, you won’t need to worry about having to plan extensively for welcoming a new heating system or upending your house to fit in the new technology.
In the meantime, you can read more about energy efficiency, how to heat your home for less and environmental changes by clicking here.
Everyone’s in agreement that homes will need to be heated by other means in the future to ensure we protect the planet and end our reliance on energy from overseas. Hydrogen will be one route in the great switch we can expect.
As we look ahead ‘we have to again see what the alternative is to natural gas…it just seems common sense to run a greener fuel, which is hydrogen’ says Andy from High Efficiency Heating.
For homes with a gas boiler, we expect a switch to hydrogen to be easy, and we’ll learn more over the next few years with the neighbourhood and village trials. Existing radiators and pipework won’t need replacing and hydrogen boilers will fit neatly in the same space as your current one – ideal if you live in a flat or have limited space for installing alternatives like a heat pump.
We expect there will be different options for different homes as we all move away from natural gas boilers and recognise some may prefer to install heat pumps, which runs solely on electricity.
But, unlike electricity, hydrogen can be stored for long periods of time and used when needed. We believe relying entirely on electricity for heating our homes may not provide the reassurance everyone wants or allow us to hit the targets we have been set to reduce carbon use. That’s why we want more people to know about the other options available because we think a diverse supply of energy that includes hydrogen gas will be essential to ensure everyone can keep their homes warm.
Hydrogen for widescale home heating is still a long way off so if you need to upgrade your boiler, you can be sure it will continue to work for it’s entire life before hydrogen fully replaces natural gas.
We’re here to answer your questions
Hydrogen is clean gas without the fuss but new energy can be confusing. We aim to help you figure it out.
Hydrogen is set to play a vital role in the way we heat our homes in the future, eventually replacing the natural gas we currently use as we look for long-term environmentally-friendly ways to save the planet and keep bills down.
The problem is – not enough people know about the benefits hydrogen can bring or the work already taking place to start the change.
Hydrogen can be produced in the UK and supplied through the same gas pipes already in our streets and going into our homes. Hydrogen boilers and cookers that work just as natural gas ones do today have already been developed.
The first hydrogen homes and villages are being trialled to find out how easy it will be to replace your current boiler and appliances to hydrogen-ready ones at the end of their natural lives. This switch will help create tens of thousands of jobs in the UK, reduce greenhouse gases and end our reliance on fossil fuels from overseas.
Large-scale changes to things we’re all used to take time – just ask the electric car makers. That’s why we want to make sure the public know about the hydrogen future now. This means we can plan ahead and start the investment needed today to make hydrogen convenient and affordable tomorrow.
The Government will make a decision in 2026 on what Britain’s new heating policy should be and we think households should feel part of that conversation by knowing hydrogen could be one option available to them.
The cost-of-living crisis has shown how important a long-term energy plan is, including a move away from overseas fossil fuels. That’s why we need to start talking about securing home-grown low carbon energy sooner rather than later to reduce our reliance on imported natural gas. Another cost-of-living crisis can be avoided but only if we start the conversation now.
For support on the cost-of-living crisis you can visit help pages here.
Hydrogen is easy to find as it makes up the H in H2O – better known as water – along with being found in methane. There are lots of different ways of extracting hydrogen.
In the UK there are two main methods being developed to make our own hydrogen and not relying on shipping it in from other countries. The first is through electrolysis, which uses renewable power to split hydrogen from water. The second is splitting hydrogen from natural gas and storing the remaining carbon dioxide away.
The Government has set out rules to make sure future production reduces carbon emissions and is better than continuing to use natural gas. Growing the industry in the UK could also support up to 100,000 jobs in the sector.
Not just yet – unless you are lucky enough to live in one of the proposed hydrogen neighbourhoods and villages which will be the first places to use hydrogen.
With 22 million homes using natural gas for heating and hot water in the UK, not to mention the millions of gas hobs used to cook with, it will take some time to get low carbon solutions into every home. That’s why we are starting the conversation today.
We are confident the switch to hydrogen can work and the UK has history when it comes to this. In the 1970s the country successfully moved from Town Gas to Natural Gas to heat our homes and we think hydrogen is the next viable option for a greener future with minimal fuss.
The last natural gas shift took ten years to achieve and with more villages and even towns looking to use hydrogen we hope you will be able to use hydrogen soon too. The existing pipes can pump the new gas, the hydrogen boilers are in development, we just need the green light from Government to make it happen.
Yes, new boilers will be needed for homes to use 100% hydrogen. The benefit of a hydrogen-ready boiler is, it will fit in the same spot as your old one and manufacturers have committed to ensuring they will be the same price as a traditional boiler.
You also won’t need to upgrade your boiler until it runs to the end of its natural life. Think of it like HD-Ready TVs that were introduced before the rollout of High Definition TV channels – they worked with the old and new technologies seamlessly and the speed of the switchover was done at a gradual pace region by region.
Manufacturers are already making and testing hydrogen-ready boilers, which can be easily converted to use 100% hydrogen in the future. These are expected to be ready for sale in large volumes from 2026. Boiler makers have said they will need at least three years to develop and produce the hydrogen-ready boilers at scale to keep prices low.
We expect that installing a new hydrogen-ready boiler will be just like installing a current natural gas boiler. It will fit in the same place and won’t need extra space in your home. There will be no need for additional fixtures, fittings or new radiators, meaning the cost of installation will be lower than other heating alternatives.
The UK Government is due to make a decision on whether all new boilers should be hydrogen ready later this year, in time for a full-scale rollout of hydrogen-ready boilers from 2026.
Most current gas cookers and hobs do not work with 100% hydrogen, and they will need to be adapted or replaced to use it. Many will work with a 20% hydrogen mix – which will be the first step towards 100% hydrogen. But, as with boilers, changes won’t be needed until the appliances reach the end of their natural lives.
New hydrogen cookers and hobs are in development and will work in the same way as those using natural gas. The Government is keen to encourage the industry to work on new appliance technology and we expect these to be ready before hydrogen comes to our homes.
The best part about getting a hydrogen boiler is there will be no difference to how your current boiler works. The thermostat and radiators will remain the same and you can still get the heat going as fast as you currently can. You won’t have to learn anything new to heat your home.
Natural gas will be replaced with hydrogen when we have a good supply of hydrogen and when we have strong coverage of hydrogen-ready boilers. We expect this to be from 2030 onwards if the Government approves the use of hydrogen. With boilers having a life span of 15 years, we can replace many with hydrogen-ready boilers as soon as they are available.
Figuring out the cost of hydrogen gas when the technology is in its infancy is difficult at this stage. We do know it will fall as efforts across the industry to develop new technology ramp up.
New technology always takes time to adapt. For example, the cost of harnessing wind power used to be unaffordable but today it is one of the cheapest forms of energy in the UK following years of investment and development. We see the same happening with hydrogen.
We also know that developing a hydrogen economy right here in the UK will protect households from some of the fluctuating energy costs we’ve seen in recent months because the country will have control over its supply.
Once it’s up and running, domestic hydrogen will become more affordable over time. We are not the only country looking at hydrogen. The UK Government is already working with countries across Europe, the US, Australia and Chile to make sure hydrogen can be affordable to households with an aim of it costing around the same price as natural gas before the recent energy price crisis.
The Government has said it believes hydrogen can play a key role for future energy needs. Ministers have produced a Hydrogen Strategy, setting out a path for the development of a hydrogen economy.
This includes an ambition to have ten gigawatts of hydrogen production capacity by 2030 – enough to heat more than two million homes every year – and Government departments have set up a series of funds to help the industry develop new technology.
They have also led programmes to develop hydrogen appliances for the home and set target dates for blending 20% hydrogen into the gas grid, alongside offering support for industry-led hydrogen villages and towns.
Trials are already underway to make sure it is safe for home use. The UK gas sector has a strong safety record and we believe will continue to improve this through the switch to hydrogen. The industry is working closely with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that the risks associated with hydrogen for heat are properly understood and managed by the gas networks. Unlike natural gas, hydrogen doesn’t include carbon, which eliminates the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning that can come from older appliances that run on natural gas.
The UK already has a history of using hydrogen for Town Gas in the 1960s and 1970s, which was made up of 50% hydrogen.
We expect industrial users like factories and power stations to receive hydrogen supplies first, followed by homes getting at first a blend of hydrogen and natural gas.
The gas networks then plan to extend hydrogen supplies to residential areas nearby. And at the same time start the conversion of the national grid gas system that runs the length of the country connecting up these hydrogen production sites.
We don’t know just yet who will get hydrogen first but, working with the Government, we expect to be able to produce a roadmap in the coming years.
Hello Hydrogen will help keep you informed of new developments in the transition to a hydrogen future. When your boiler needs replacing, you can expect to start seeing manufacturers offering hydrogen-ready versions in future years. But with the ease of the switch to hydrogen, you won’t need to worry about having to plan extensively for welcoming a new heating system or upending your house to fit in the new technology.
In the meantime, you can read more about energy efficiency, how to heat your home for less and environmental changes by clicking here.
Everyone’s in agreement that homes will need to be heated by other means in the future to ensure we protect the planet and end our reliance on energy from overseas. Hydrogen will be one route in the great switch we can expect.
For homes with a gas boiler, we expect a switch to hydrogen to be easy, and we’ll learn more over the next few years with the neighbourhood and village trials. Existing radiators and pipework won’t need replacing and hydrogen boilers will fit neatly in the same space as your current one – ideal if you live in a flat or have limited space for installing alternatives like a heat pump.
We expect there will be different options for different homes as we all move away from natural gas boilers and recognise some may prefer to install heat pumps, which runs solely on electricity.
But, unlike electricity, hydrogen can be stored for long periods of time and used when needed. We believe relying entirely on electricity for heating our homes may not provide the reassurance everyone wants or allow us to hit the targets we have been set to reduce carbon use. That’s why we want more people to know about the other options available because we think a diverse supply of energy that includes hydrogen gas will be essential to ensure everyone can keep their homes warm.
Hydrogen for widescale home heating is still a long way off so if you need to upgrade your boiler, you can be sure it will continue to work for it’s entire life before hydrogen fully replaces natural gas.