Millions of families will be urged by a green quango not to heat their homes in the evening to help the Government hit its net zero target.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) said people should turn off their radiators at peak times as part of a wider drive to deliver “emissions savings”.

In a document on “behaviour change” the body recommended Britons “pre-heat” their houses in the afternoon when electricity usage is lower.

It said the move would save families money, but critics suggested the real reason was that renewables will not be able to provide enough energy to cope with peak demand.

The advice is contained in the CCC’s sixth “carbon budget” paper, which sets out how the UK should reduce its emissions between 2033-37.

In it the quango suggests people with electrically powered heating systems, such as heat pumps, should switch off their radiators in the evening.

“There is significant potential to deliver emissions savings, just by changing the way we use our homes,” the dossier states.

“Where homes are sufficiently well insulated, it is possible to pre-heat ahead of peak times, enabling access to cheaper tariffs which reflect the reduced costs associated with running networks and producing power during off-peak times.”

The green quango said that by 2033 all newly built homes and up to half of those constructed after 1952 should be suitable for such pre-heating.

But critics said the advice was just the latest example of Britons being asked to compromise on their quality of life so the Government can hit climate targets.

Andrew Montford, the director of Net Zero Watch said: “The grid is already creaking, and daft ideas like this show just how much worse it will become.

“It’s clear that renewables are a disaster in the making. We now need political leaders with the courage to admit it.”

Craig Mackinlay, head of the Net Zero Scrutiny group of Tory MPs, added: “It is becoming clear that adherence to judicable Carbon Budgets and edicts coming from the CCC are developing into farce.

“The Climate Change Act 2008 will require amendment to free us from madcap and impractical targets foisted upon the population by long departed politicians.

“This latest advice to freeze ourselves on cold evenings merely shows the truth that the dream of plentiful and cheap renewable energy is a sham.

“I came into politics to improve all aspects of my constituents’ lives, not make them colder and poorer.”

Lower bills
A spokesman for the CCC insisted that the advice would benefit households and would mean “homes will still be warm, but bills can be lowered”.

He added: “This is a demonstration of homeowners benefiting from periods of the day when electricity is cheaper.

“Using electricity to heat a home opens the prospect of choosing a time when prices are lower, something that’s not possible with a gas boiler.

“Smart heating of homes like this also makes the best possible use of the grid and supports greater use of cheap renewable generation.”

The advice follows a furore over Government plans to ban the installation of new oil powered boilers from 2026 and force homes into adopting heat pumps.

Downing Street has hinted it is now set to U-turn amid warnings the move would increase rural fuel poverty and put more strain on the struggling electricity grid.

The CCC is an independent body set up by ministers in 2008 to advise the Government on how to hit its climate targets.

In its latest report, the committee criticises No 10 over its “worryingly slow” action on climate.

It states that Downing Street’s support for new oil and coal exploration and the expansion of airports meant Britain was no longer a global green leader.

The use of “carbon budgets”, which set the Government legally binding targets for reducing emissions, has increasingly come under fire from Tory MPs.

Last month the head of the CCC revealed that he still has a gas boiler in his own flat even though his committee is urging Britons to switch to heat pumps.

Chris Stark said more than four years ago that he was “keen” to switch to an electric heating system but admitted that he had not been able to do so.

He also acknowledged that heat pumps were too expensive for many people and that it was “very difficult” to install them in existing flats like his own.

Mr Stark, who lives in Edinburgh, made the remarks as he was grilled by MPs about how the Government can meet its 2035 target to phase out gas boilers.

He also admitted that his own boiler engineer is sceptical of heat pumps as a viable replacement and that “the capital cost of it is too high at the moment”.

“I have a gas boiler. I wish I didn’t, but I live in a flat and heat pumps are a very difficult thing to put in there,” he told the Commons environmental audit committee.

“The gas boiler guy who comes round and fixes my gas boiler – it breaks very often – tells me they will never work.”