Reform and Conservative voters surveyed would prefer being connected to a district heat network than having an oil or gas boiler, according to new research for EnergiRaven, an organisation dedicated to promoting energy efficiency and using excess heat in the UK.
The survey found strong support for these networks that use excess heat and to heat homes and see this as an important measure to defend against future oil price spikes, even among Reform and Conservative voters.
The study by Censuswide polled 2330 adults throughout the UK across the political spectrum, and found that voters support heat networks.
Reform voters said that they would be more likely than not to support candidates who campaigned for heat networks in local elections (47% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported heat networks, while only 8% would be less likely to) – as did Conservatives (56% vs 6%). Greens were the most favourable towards the idea of candidates supporting heat networks (68%) and Labour voters (59%) were also supportive.
In addition, 67% of respondents would consider switching from their current heating system to a heat network, if there was one available in their area. This was consistent across voter intention – with 68% of Conservatives, 76% of Labour voters, and 68% Reform.
When asked how to protect the country against energy price spikes in the long term, only around half as many respondents (32%) said they wanted to see more drilling for oil and gas versus investing in heat networks to use energy that is being wasted (61%).
Drilling for more oil and gas was the least popular option compared with insulating homes and buildings (44%), expanding renewables (54%), and investing in clean technology like heat pumps (44%).
Commenting on the survey, Simon Kerr, head of heat networks at EnergiRaven, said:
‘Energy has become a culture war issue in the last few years, but when you get into the detail, you find that it’s far less polarising. People want lower bills and more stable prices, and they can see these commonsense ideas, like storing heat to use where it’s needed, is part of that.’
‘People can see that it’s basic common sense and fairness to link up sources of excess heat to bring down bills – and that in the long term, this is what is going to bring down costs and protect us from the next energy shock.’