The sticky heat is one of the most unpleasant parts of a morning commute on the London underground – but that hot air is about to be put to good use.

Hundreds of London homes are to be kept warm using the waste heat from the tube.

The project is a team effort between Islington Council, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, UK Power Networks and Transport for London.

Under the scheme heat from a Northern Line ventilation shaft and a substation owned and operated by UK Power Networks will be pumped into Islington Council’s existing Burnhill Heat Network. The network already pipes warmth to 700 homes in the borough and it will now be extended to bring heat to 500 more.

Most of the funding for the project will come from Islington Council, which is putting up £2.7 million. Another £1 million will come from the European Union as part of its CELSIUS project, which aims to demonstrate ways of improving the efficiency and performance of district heating systems.

Councillor Rakhia Ismail, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Sustainability said: “Recycling heat from London Underground and the electrical network are exciting new ideas and a boost to our work to tackle fuel poverty and make Islington a fairer place. This cheaper energy scheme is greener too – local communities will see CO2 emissions drop by around over 500 tonnes each year.”

Martin Wilcox, Head of Future Networks at UK Power Networks said: “If it is successful there could be potential to replicate this and increase access to low carbon, low cost energy in other parts of the capital because we have electricity substations dotted throughout London.”