For the first time, you can experience the reality of a hydrogen-fuelled home of the future, taking away some of the mystery of what a hydrogen conversion could actually mean for your home.

The homes are fitted with hydrogen gas appliances including cookers and hobs, fires and boilers and a hydrogen meter.  The appearance of the appliances is very similar to today’s natural gas appliances with one of the most notable differences being the flame on the hob which burns orange rather than blue.

The appliances operate in the same way and they do the same job, with the oven and hobs cooking food at the same temperature, in the same time amount of time as natural gas. The boiler and fires keep the water and temperature in the house as warm and cosy as today’s gas appliances.

The homes are located at our Low Thornley site, near Gateshead and were built in partnership with our fellow gas distributor Cadent and the Government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The 100% hydrogen appliances showcased were developed through the Government’s Hy4Heat programme and are all manufactured in the UK.

A hydrogen gas supply could offer the most cost effective and least invasive route to zero carbon home heating for many UK homes.

We can reuse the existing gas networks and households can reuse the same pipework and radiators, with just the replacement of appliances needed.

Leading manufacturers including Baxi Heating, Ideal, Vaillant and Worcester Bosch have already developed ‘hydrogen-ready’ boilers. If these are mandated by the Government, customers can replace their boiler with a ‘hydrogen-ready’ version at the end of its natural life and then an engineer just needs to make some simple adjustments at the time of a hydrogen conversion. These companies have also made a promise to match the price of hydrogen-ready boilers to today’s natural gas boilers.