South Somerset households not connected to the gas grid may come up against a heating bill double whammy as the 2026 government deadline for banning oil and LPG boilers approaches.

According to leading energy trade body the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA), 11,691 households in South Somerset currently use an oil boiler to heat their home.

From 2026, if an oil boiler breaks down, the government plans to prohibit replacement with another oil boiler. Instead, these households will be required to fit a heat pump that runs on electricity.

The government quotes the current cost of fitting a heat pump at £13,000, compared under £3,000 to replace an oil boiler.

In addition, the EUA advises that the annual running cost of a heat pump is currently £360 more than an oil boiler. Furthermore, they warn that without a government price cap on electricity, that gap would rocket to £1700 more annually.

Boris Johnson’s government announced the plans to ban oil and LPG boilers as part of their green plan to fit 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028. Most of these pumps are to be installed in off gas grid homes which Ministers refer to as ‘low hanging fruit’, or households which are easy to convert to heat pumps.

EUA’s Chief Executive said: “It seems that families living in rural neighbourhoods, not connected to the gas grid, are easy prey to start forcing heat pumps onto."

“Heat pumps are a way of reducing carbon emissions but this comes at a price, currently a hefty one. Now is not the time to ban oil and LPG boilers. At the very least, treating rural households the same as their on gas grid counterparts is fair.

“Delaying the oil boiler ban until 2035 allows for alternatives such as bio-fuels to become established, allowing a low carbon boiler to stay in the home, or to see if the cost of heat pumps fall. Rural families should not be the guinea-pigs for the government’s heat pump experiment.

“Any MP backing heat pumps over hydrogen or biofuels must explain to their constituents where they will find the money to pay for these replacement heating appliances. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is very brave to tell those who voted for you they need to find £13,000 when their boiler breaks down.”