Future Homes Standard Explained | Can New Homes Have No Bills? | Energy Unwrapped Podcast

Original author：Mick Wall (Energy Stats UK)

Original source：https://www.youtube.com/embed/ln_ZEHDEiJI

The Future Homes Standard is finally here. From 2027, new homes in the UK will move away from gas boilers and towards heat pumps, solar, and fully electric design. But is it enough… or are we still building homes that will need fixing later? In this Energy Unwrapped Podcast episode, I’m joined by Nigel Banks from @OctopusEnergy to break down what the Future Homes Standard actually means in practice, and whether Zero Bills Homes are genuinely achievable. We get into: What the Future Homes Standard actually requires Why gas boilers are effectively being phased out How much solar new homes will really get Why we ended up with “2 panel” token installs The reality of heat pump design in new builds DNO limits, export issues, and grid constraints Common mistakes already happening on sites Whether batteries should have been included How Zero Bills Homes actually work One of the most surprising points: In some cases, it’s now cheaper to install solar than slate roofing And despite the shift coming… Around 70% of new homes were still being built with gas boilers recently #FutureHomesStandard #HeatPumps #solar #ZeroBills #energyefficiency Chapters 00:00 Why new builds are still getting it wrong 00:24 Future Homes Standard explained 05:20 Why it took so long 06:50 Solar vs slate roofing surprise 08:00 What is the Future Homes Standard? 10:30 Gas boilers are effectively banned 12:20 70% gas vs 25% heat pumps 15:00 How the standard actually works (SAP & compliance) 17:30 Airtightness and ventilation explained 20:10 Why we got 2-panel solar installs 21:30 How much solar new homes will get 25:30 Export limits and DNO challenges 31:00 Cost vs retrofit later 32:30 Heat pump design and flow temperatures 34:50 Common mistakes in new builds 42:20 The skills gap problem 47:30 Getting installs right first time 🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast — Real conversations on home energy, heating and renewables, for UK homeowners and installers. Music by @moodmode 📊 Data & analysis on my website: 👉 https://energy-stats.uk ⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy (referral link — we both get £50): 👉 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/ 👉 https://energy-stats.uk/support-the-site 👉 http://buymeacoffee.com/SVHgIbUYM Like and Subscribe, thank you. https://www.youtube.com/@MickWall?sub_confirmation=1 Topics covered in this channel: UK energy tariffs | Octopus Agile | Octopus Tracker | Octopus Intelligent Go | heat pumps | solar panels | home batteries | EV charging | time of use tariffs | UK energy bills All data used in this channel comes from real half-hourly API data. This is a homeowner's perspective, not professional financial or engineering advice.