Are Hydrogen Boilers the Future of Heat?

January 5, 2022

Many people’s New Year’s resolution is to help take better care of the environment. Could futuristic hydrogen-powered boilers make that easier?

Here at Parker & Sons, we pride ourselves on cutting-edge heating services and products. We’re always looking for new, innovative technologies to simplify our customers’ lives. We were interested when we heard about a product that could change how homeowners heat their homes forever: the hydrogen boiler.

Hydrogen Boiler Basics

Hydrogen boilers burn hydrogen instead of natural gas or oil to create heat. The gas combustion process is essentially the same as a gas furnace, where hydrogen and oxygen together produce heat. Overall, the equipment wouldn’t be much different… It’s just that the fuel would be!

Converting Infrastructure

As you already know, our gas lines have natural gas, not hydrogen. Converting the entire thing to hydrogen instead would be quite a process and would require the whole Arizona state government to be on board.

At least here in Phoenix, there’s a lot of talk about becoming carbon neutral. The current goal of the city of Phoenix is to be carbon neutral by the year 2050, which would mean that we run on clean energy instead of fossil fuels that burn carbon.[1] 

We’d all have to agree to work to replace natural gas lines with hydrogen. One compromise would be using a “hydrogen blend,” which is typically 80% natural gas and 20% hydrogen. When hydrogen is mixed into existing gas, it’s better for the environment, and current systems can still use the gas without any worries of malfunctioning. Hydrogen boilers would use zero carbon and would be a great start towards that goal.

Timing to Replace Central Gas

With all of this in mind, it’s hard to say when we will see any hydrogen boilers replacing central gas heating here in Phoenix. Could it be within this decade? We’ll have to wait and see! Even if it isn’t, it’s great to see that these products are being developed and could become more mainstream in the future.

Meanwhile, at Parker & Sons, our new and innovative heating technologies not only help do our part for the environment but also help you save money over time by reducing energy waste.

[1] City of Phoenix Page