The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) is urging the 1.2 million homeowners in the UK who use heating oil, to take part in the government's consultation on the future of heat in homes.

The FPS has also written to MPs asking them to support their constituents who use heating oil and to help shape the government's upcoming policy so that heating oil can be part of a step-change approach to reaching the government's 2050 carbon reduction targets.

Entitled A Future Framework For Heat In Buildings, the government consultation is calling for ideas and evidence on how best to decarbonise the 1.2 million homes across the UK that use oil for heating.

FPS Chief Executive Guy Pulham says: "It's vital that everyone who uses heating oil has a say on this most critical consultation and seizes the opportunity to voice their opinion to make a difference. The current government's policy seems to be encouraging moving rural households and businesses - currently using oil heating - to electrically driven heat pumps to cut carbon emissions from the heating sector but we are concerned that may place a large financial burden on many rural communities whose housing stock will need additional costly insulation to make the investment in heat pumps provide competitive energy bills.

"The Energy Saving Trust estimate that the cost of installing heat pumps is at least £6,000 with external wall insulation costing £8,000 and internal wall insulation £4,000. Compare this to around £2,000 for an oil condensing boiler of similar heat output or £1,600 if subsidised by a nationwide £400 government boiler replacement incentive scheme, or free for the poorest households under the government's current ECO 2 scheme which is due to end in September 2018. A more efficient oil condensing boiler can also reduce CO₂ emissions by 30%."

The deadline for taking part in the consultation is the 11 June. To share your view, visit this page.