In our last blog, we explored why traditional Demand Side Response (DSR) models don’t align with how heat pumps are designed to run. But DSR is about more than saving households money. It plays a central role in balancing the grid as we shift towards renewables. The real question is does it still deliver on that promise, and what does it mean for heat pumps as more are installed?
Understanding DSR and its role in ‘the grid’
At its core, DSR is about balancing supply and demand in real time. Instead of every household drawing power at once, DSR encourages some to shift their usage into off-peak periods, often using cheaper tariffs as the incentive.
Right now, when demand spikes in the UK, the grid has to call on gas-fired Peaker plants to fill the gap. These stations are expensive to run, carbon intensive, and only operate for short bursts to cover these peak loads. In parallel, National Grid also pays certain large consumers to reduce demand temporarily. Both measures keep the system stable, but they add cost and, in the case of gas, emissions.
DSR aims to reduce the need for these interventions. By flattening peaks and spreading demand more evenly across the day, operators can avoid firing up so many Peaker plants and make better use of the cables and substations already in place.
That’s vital in a grid powered increasingly by renewables. Solar and wind don’t generate in predictable blocks and having a way to adjust demand makes it easier to keep the lights on without defaulting to fossil fuels.
However, while DSR helps smooth peaks, it isn’t a replacement for investment in infrastructure. As The Conversation highlighted, the UK will still need massive grid upgrades to connect remote offshore windfarms and cope with the electrification of heat and transport.
DSR can buy time and improve efficiency, but it won’t solve the root challenge of capacity.
Why heat pumps add complication.
Heat pumps are one of the key parts of the UK’s decarbonisation plans, with targets for 600,000 installations a year by 2028. That is a huge increase in electrical demand which needs accounting for via grid investment.
Static DSR is rooted in good intentions, and for traditional heating methods it can be a sound strategy. But in its current form, it clashes with the fundamentals of heat pumps. As renewables grow, flexibility will only become more important but that flexibility needs to be delivered in a way that supports how heat pumps are designed to run.
Rather than shutting systems off completely, heat pumps should be flexible by turning down output when needed, rather than being forced into stop-start cycles. Tariffs should also move beyond rigid windows and evolve into dynamic signals that respond to real-time grid conditions.
For households that want both the efficiency of a heat pump and the tariff flexibility that DSR promises, hybrid systems can provide a practical middle ground. Systems like Alpha’s E-Tec Hybrid combine a high-efficiency heat pump with a gas boiler and smart controls which automatically choose the most efficient or cost-effective heat source. It’s a straightforward way to balance sustainability with reliability, while DSR evolves.
Even Octopus Energy has acknowledged that static DSR is outdated, promoting instead the idea of “intelligent demand” that adapts dynamically without undermining comfort. That’s a step in the right direction, but the industry still needs to ensure these models work with, not against, the way heat pumps are designed to run.
A better investment into sustainable heating.
While DSR is valuable for balancing the renewables grid, we shouldn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. That means greater investment into the grid to support electrification and the increased presence of heat pumps.
The smarter solution is to evolve DSR, so it supports heat pumps, ensuring efficiency, comfort, and grid stability move forward together.