Unlocking heat pump flexibility to deliver low-carbon heating and support the electricity grid
Author(s)
Type
Report
Abstract
Heating our buildings accounts for around 20% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, so decarbonising heat is essential for achieving net zero. Heat pumps and heat networks are proven, scalable options for cutting emissions but there are concerns that electrifying heating will worsen winter peaks in electricity use and make power system operation more challenging.
This brief explores how far heat pump flexibility can be unlocked to deliver smarter, lower-carbon heating for homes while supporting energy networks. A suite of research studies funded by the Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) examined how tariffs, controls, and technology choices affect heat pump demand, system impacts and comfort.
The research found that carefully designed tariffs, used with sensible scheduling, could bring part of space-heating and hot water demand forward in the afternoon to take pressure off evening peaks. At a neighbourhood scale, borehole fields with water-to-water heat pumps as part of a district heating system can supply efficient, shared, low-carbon heat and act as thermal storage. Where heat pumps are used in district heating systems, the thermal inertia of buildings, pipework and thermal energy storage allows short-term demand-side flexibility. However, acceptable temperature ranges still limit how far, and how often, systems can be shifted.
This brief explores how far heat pump flexibility can be unlocked to deliver smarter, lower-carbon heating for homes while supporting energy networks. A suite of research studies funded by the Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) examined how tariffs, controls, and technology choices affect heat pump demand, system impacts and comfort.
The research found that carefully designed tariffs, used with sensible scheduling, could bring part of space-heating and hot water demand forward in the afternoon to take pressure off evening peaks. At a neighbourhood scale, borehole fields with water-to-water heat pumps as part of a district heating system can supply efficient, shared, low-carbon heat and act as thermal storage. Where heat pumps are used in district heating systems, the thermal inertia of buildings, pipework and thermal energy storage allows short-term demand-side flexibility. However, acceptable temperature ranges still limit how far, and how often, systems can be shifted.
Date Issued
2026-08-12
Citation
2026, pp.1-9
Publisher
Grantham Institute, Imperial College London
Start Page
1
End Page
9
Copyright Statement
©2026, the authors. Produced for The Grantham Institute, Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC), supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council . This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No-Derivatives 4.0 licence. This licence permits all or part of the work to be copied and shared with others, provided that the original authors and source are credited. The full licence is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.
Subjects
climate change
energy
Publication Status
Published