Hydrogen Boilers: All you need to know
There’s a lot of discussion at the minute surrounding hydrogen boilers and how they could benefit our homes and the environment. But what does actually getting a hydrogen boiler mean for your home? We’ll bring you up to date with all the latest hydrogen boiler plans below.
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What is a hydrogen boiler?
A domestic hydrogen boiler is a boiler that burns hydrogen, instead of natural gas.
The hydrogen gas is burned via combustion, which in turn creates hot flue gases that are used to heat water.
This hot water is then stored for later use and pumped around your radiators to heat your home.
Hydrogen is thinner than methane, meaning some parts of the boiler may differ such as the burner and the flame detector, but they work in the same way as any other boiler.
Are gas boilers being banned?
The short answer is no – gas boilers are only being “banned” in new build properties from 2025. This means if you buy a new gas boiler for your home today, it will be used for its whole 10-15 year lifespan.
This basically means gas boilers are only being phased out of the new build homes, so if you buy a new build after 2025, it will have an alternative heating system such as a heat pump or electric boiler.
Can gas boilers be converted to hydrogen?
Yes, gas boilers can be converted to hydrogen boilers. The conversion is being considered in order to help tackle the current climate crisis.
The Northern Gas Network is currently working on redesigning the gas network in Leeds to build a number of steam methane reformer plants, converting methane from the national gas grid into hydrogen via removing carbon.
The plan is expected to take around 10-15 years, however, in the meantime, a number of manufacturers including Worcester Bosch and Baxi have revealed their plans for hydrogen-ready boilers.
What is a hydrogen-ready boiler?
A hydrogen-ready boiler is compatible with natural gas, but after a quick visit from a Gas Safe heating engineer, the boiler can work on 100% hydrogen gas.
This means the unit can be installed ahead of time, ready for the gas network to switch to hydrogen.
Will hydrogen replace gas boilers?
In the long term, it is likely that hydrogen boilers will replace gas boilers.
However, given the time period it will take to have hydrogen readily available for boilers, most of the UK population will have renewed their gas boiler until a greener and more sustainable option is available.
Should I use hydrogen instead of natural gas?
Ideally, we would all be using hydrogen boilers instead of natural gas in order to combat the climate crisis.
Hydrogen has the potential to be a zero-carbon fuel, meaning it only releases water when it’s burned; whereas, when natural gases are burned, they release a large amount of carbon dioxide.
How do hydrogen boilers work?
In basic terms, hydrogen boilers work as follows:
- Hydrogen and oxygen enter the boiler.
- The gases are mixed together and burned in a catalytic burner.
- The hot gases enter the heat exchanger (this is a series of pipes which the hot gas travels through).
- As the gas travels through the pipes, the cold water surrounding the pipes is heated and this water can then be used in your heating system or supplied to your taps.
- Any byproducts exit the system. The byproduct of oxygen and hydrogen is water, so a condensate is required for this water to escape the system.
The boiler will continue to pull in hydrogen and oxygen, so the process is repeated over and over again.
When is the transition to hydrogen going to happen?
The Energy Networks Association has announced that the UK’s national gas grid will start blending hydrogen around the country from 2023, with the intention of reaching the UK’s net-zero goals by 2050.
The gas industry is expected to meet its expectation of 5GW hydrogen production capacity by 2030. This means low carbon hydrogen could be powering around 3 million homes each year.
The government has suggested that 20-35% of the UK’s energy could be hydrogen based by 2050, with emissions cut by 78% by 2035.
Are hydrogen boilers available now?
There are currently no 100% hydrogen boilers available as of now, 2022, as the technology is yet to be developed.
However, as previously discussed, companies like Worcester Bosch are preparing boilers which will be suitable for hydrogen. Many companies are making prototypes, so that when hydrogen is ready to be used, they will be prepared to start rolling out their products.
It’s likely hydrogen ready boilers will start to be rolled out from 2025 across the UK.
Most current boilers are ‘hydrogen ready’ so they can work with a 20% hydrogen blend.
How much are hydrogen boilers going to cost?
Whilst the cost of 100% hydrogen boilers is still uncertain, hydrogen-ready boilers can cost anywhere upwards of £600. The plan is that they will cost the same amount as a natural gas boiler.
Installation of a Hydrogen-ready boiler can cost up to £2,500 on average depending on the make and model, the size and the type of boiler. Additional labour usually comes at an extra cost.
Are hydrogen boilers cheaper to run?
Hydrogen boilers will run off either blue or green hydrogen, with green being 2-3 times more expensive. The current price for hydrogen is much more expensive than both fossil fuels and renewable energy.
The estimated annual cost of running a hydrogen boiler on green hydrogen is around £960.
We currently do not produce enough hydrogen to switch to it, and expect it to be a cheaper alternative. It is estimated to take 20 years before the energy companies can switch to pure hydrogen gas, so until then, the prices are expected to remain high.
Advantages of hydrogen boilers
- It’s a renewable energy source: Hydrogen is bountiful in supply, and while it may take a lot of resources to harness it, no other energy source is infinite like it is.
- Multiple sources to produce hydrogen on a local scale: Hydrogen can be produced locally on site and then redistributed nationwide, or just used locally. It can be produced from methane, gasoline, coal and water, meaning the production of it can occur anywhere with suitable facilities.
- It’s a clean energy source: When hydrogen is burnt to produce fuel, the byproducts are totally safe, meaning that they have no side effects. In fact, aeronautical companies often use the hydrogen water by-product as a source of safe drinking water.
- The use of hydrogen reduces pollution: The only by-products of hydrogen and oxygen are water and heat, meaning no harmful fumes or chemicals are released into our atmosphere.
Disadvantages of hydrogen boilers
- Hydrogen is expensive: Electrolysis and steam reforming are the two main processes of hydrogen extraction, and these are extremely expensive. This is the main reason why it isn’t heavily used across the world today.
- Storage complications: Hydrogen has a very low density, meaning it has to be compressed to a liquid and stored at low temperatures to guarantee its effectiveness and efficiency as an energy source.
- Hard to transport: Due to its lightness, hydrogen is very hard to transport in large quantities. It can therefore only be transported in small batches, unlike oils which can be transported safely as it’s mostly pushed through pipes.
- It still uses fossil fuels: In order to separate hydrogen from oxygen, it requires other non-renewable energy sources such as coal or oil.
- Hydrogen cannot sustain the world’s population: Using energy from fossil fuels is not going anywhere fast, and it still rules the world in terms of energy supply. There are no current world wide frameworks put in place to ensure chepa and sustainable hydrogen energy.
In fact, even if hydrogen was cheap and readily available, it would take years for it to become the most used source of energy due to all the infrastructural changes that would need to be made.
Best hydrogen boilers
Lacey Plumbing and Heating are official brand installers for Worcester Bosch, and can install a range of the most popular boiler brands, including Ideal and Baxi.
Most new boilers are actually hydrogen-ready anyway. Below are some of the best combi-boilers on the market which are all hydrogen-ready.
Viessmann Vitodens 050-w Hydrogen ready combi boiler
This is Viessmann’s latest hydrogen ready combi boiler, featuring a compact and energy efficient design and a 10 year warranty, making them excellent value for money.
Worcester Bosch 4000 Hydrogen ready combi boiler
All of the Worcester Bosch combi boilers are hydrogen ready, and the mid range 4000 hydrogen ready combi boiler is perfect for homes across the UK.
The boiler has two different outputs, and can currently run off 20% hydrogen as well as being ready to change to 100% hydrogen when the time comes.
FAQs about Hydrogen Boilers
Yes, current gas metres will not work with hydrogen boilers due to the chemical differences between methane and hydrogen.
However, prototypes are being developed to work with hydrogen gas boilers.
Blended hydrogen boilers contain a mix of 20% hydrogen and 80% natural gas. This could save an estimated 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
According to the plan by the UK government, all five of Britain’s gas grid companies will be capable of completing the necessary pipe upgrades for a 20% hydrogen blend by winter 2023/2024.
Hydrogen-ready boilers use a blend of 20% hydrogen and 80% natural gases, using the two fuels combined to produce heat.
A 100% hydrogen boiler however, is exactly what it sounds like. It uses 100% renewable hydrogen fuel to heat your home and water.
Hydrogen-ready boilers are expected to be rolled out from 2023 onwards; however, it may be some time before we see 100% hydrogen boilers being rolled out.
This is due to a variety of factors including running costs, logistics in producing hydrogen fuel and methods of transportation.
If you have any questions or worries about the future changes in boiler systems, just get in touch and we can help you with understanding when it is best for you to upgrade your system.
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