Publication - Research and analysis

Non-domestic buildings - heating systems: research report

Published: 4 November 2022
Directorate: Energy and Climate Change Directorate
Topic: Building, planning and design, Economy, Energy, +1 more … Environment and climate change
ISBN: 9781804357828

Research we commissioned from Locogen to provide a set of case studies on the installation of zero direct emissions heating systems in both new and existing non-domestic buildings. Provides key insights on the challenges and opportunities in decarbonising these buildings.

Supporting documents

Appendix D. Historical operational costs for ZDEH and fossil fuel alternatives

The table below shows the delivered heat cost per unit (kWh) for different fuels over the past five years. These costs exclude the Climate Change Levy, standing charges and VAT.

Table 7: Operational cost of common heating systems
Fuel	Gas	GSHP	ASHP	Biomass	Oil	LPG
2018	£ 0.039	£ 0.038	£ 0.045	£ 0.047	£ 0.073	£ 0.087
2019	£ 0.031	£ 0.043	£ 0.051	£ 0.049	£ 0.070	£ 0.093
2020	£ 0.028	£ 0.042	£ 0.050	£ 0.051	£ 0.061	£ 0.095
2021	£ 0.025	£ 0.042	£ 0.050	£ 0.052	£ 0.067	£ 0.095
2022	£ 0.059	£ 0.063	£ 0.074	£ 0.055	£ 0.117	£ 0.108

The table was produced using a combination of price sources (identified below). Where possible, average values for the year have been taken. Where data offers a range of likely values based on consumption volumes, those for small commercial organisations have been selected.

For 2022, the values represent current average prices based on available data. These values do not represent the full year average, but likely costs for either commodity prices or short term contract renewal. Some fuel sources (oil, LPG) provide spot values throughout the year, and these values have been taken at a comparable time period to the price cap date in each year.

For each system, the following seasonal efficiency values have been taken based on industry average values for the relative system types.

Table 8: Efficiencies of common heating systems
Fuel	Notes
Gas	Assumes seasonal boiler efficiency 92%
GSHP	Assumes seasonal performance factor 3.2
ASHP	Assumes seasonal performance factor 2.7
Biomass (Pellets)	Assumes seasonal boiler efficiency 85%
Oil	Assumes seasonal boiler efficiency 88%
LPG	Assumes seasonal boiler efficiency 92%