Putting consumers first

21st Feb 2022

 

Poor customer service is irritating, but misleading consumers is all together a greater sin. Sometimes it can happen by accident and can and should be rectified immediately. Sometimes it is a deliberate act, designed to gain advantage. No responsible body could ever condone such an approach. But I’m proud to work in an industry that goes one step further; it wants to prevent consumers from being potentially misled. That’s why last week we published a new paper on hydrogen appliance labelling.

But first, some background. A few months ago, a government official had a quiet word with me. It seems a Minister was delighted with their new “hydrogen-ready” boiler. This clearly caused some eyebrows to be raised with the officials who were surprised that such boilers were on the market.

It seems there was a “misunderstanding” and that the customer (the government Minister) had been told that the boiler could take a hydrogen blend and read that as being hydrogen-ready. The official asked us to help, so we did.

I am really pleased that our manufacturers' have agreed on a new set of labels, which clearly indicate how appliances work with hydrogen. We have existing appliances, capable of working with a blend of hydrogen up to 20 per cent. Compatible with the HyDeploy trials and the Government’s 10-Point Plan for hydrogen blending from 2023.

Then we have “hydrogen-ready” appliances, which can run on natural gas; a blend of 20 per cent hydrogen and then, when the time comes, can be easily converted by a Gas Safe engineer to run on 100 per cent hydrogen. These are the key to meeting the UK’s Net Zero ambitions. It is expected they will be mandated from 2026, so populating the UK housing stock, in a sustainable manner, ahead of a switch to hydrogen gas networks.

Finally, there are “100% hydrogen appliances” built solely for use on a 100% hydrogen network. This will come in time as our gas network evolves.

These new labels give consumers comfort in what they are buying. Once again, our industry not only leading the way with new technologies but putting people first.

Best wishes

Mike Foster, CEO