Complaint
A reader complained that the original version of the article was misleading because it said heat pumps were cheaper to run than gas boilers. In their submission to the ECU they said an amended version was also inaccurate because “The claim that running costs are comparable is not supported by facts, the heat pumps remain much more expensive to operate and install, unless misleading comparisons are made”. The ECU considered whether the article met the 鶹Լ’s standards of due accuracy.
Outcome
The article looked at six areas where the UK Government could reduce carbon emissions to meet its target of net zero by 2050. The first option was to change the way we heat our homes and the original version of the article included the following:
It [the Government] could set a date for ending the sale of gas boilers. And it could go further.
There’s a cleaner alternative to gas boilers: heat pumps. They are much cheaper to run but the initial cost, at £6,000 and upwards, puts most people off.
鶹Լ News accepts it was not accurate to say heat pumps are “much cheaper to run” and, to that extent, the article failed to meet the 鶹Լ’s standards. However the article was changed some hours after the initial publication to read as follows:
There’s a cleaner alternative to gas boilers: heat pumps. They can have comparable running costs to a conventional gas heating system, but the initial installation cost at £6000 and upwards, puts most people off.
The available evidence suggests it is not easy to make a direct comparison between the costs of heating a home with a heat pump (either air source or ground source) and heating the same home with a conventional gas central heating system. There are numerous variables, excluding the installation costs, which make a comparison difficult. In the ECU’s view it was therefore duly accurate for the amended version of the article to state heat pumps “can have comparable running costs to a conventional gas heating system” as it contains the clear inference that there can be situations in which the running costs may be comparable but this will not always be the case
Resolved