New online service backed by innovation Charity Nesta will initially allow individuals to book visits to 150 households using heat pumps across the country
A new UK scheme will allow individuals to arrange a visit to view how heat pumps heat pumps are working in a real-world domestic setting.
Innovation charity NESTA said that the VisitAHeatPump.com site would connect individuals interested in installing a lower carbon heating systems with local homes across the UK currently using heat pump systems.
An initial group of 150 households using heat pumps have signed up to be part of the programme that will seek to demonstrate how the technologies are working nationwide.
Individuals will be able to use the online service to search for nearby properties based on their postcode that they can then arrange to visit.
Nesta said one of the main aims in launching the programme was to address limited consumer awareness about heat pump technologies and how they work in homes in order to help expand public acceptance.
The UK Government has identified heat pumps as an important technology to help decarbonise a majority of homes across the UK up to 2050 to help meet the country’s legally mandated net zero targets.
By 2028, authorities have committed to ramp up installation rates to a minimum of 600,000 systems a year from 2028. The target represents over a ten-fold increase n heat pump numbers installed in 2022.
Nesta added that data from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation body concluded that around 250,000 heat pumps are currently installed in UK homes.
However, the charity said that that the general public still had limited experience of seeing the technologies in use.
Nesta also cited findings from research it published in 2023 that found that found a large majority of 2,500 domestic heat pump users in the UK were satisfied with the performance of their systems.
The charity said of the research: “It found that among people who have had a heat pump installed in their current home, 81 per cent are as satisfied or more satisfied with heat pumps compared to their previous heating system. The figure is similar – 83 per cent – when looking at heat pump owners in Victorian or older properties.”
Katy King, sustainable future director with Nesta, said that transforming domestic heating was expected to have a significant impact on cutting national carbon emissions.
She added: “Many homeowners are keen to make green improvements but don’t get the opportunity to see how low-carbon technologies, such as heat pumps, work in action.”
“Our new service makes it easier for prospective heat pump owners to visit a heat pump near them and ask an actual heat pump user any questions they might have. We hope that if more people can see heat pumps in real-life settings, then more people will have confidence that a heat pump is the right fit to heat their home.”
Octopus Energy, which is among a range of utilities providers looking to offer lower carbon heating systems also backed the introduction of the visit a heat pump programme.
Octopus Energy founder Greg Jackson said that heat pumps could be up to four times more efficient than natural gas boilers, with the company’s smart tariffs service also aiming to incentivise their use with lower cost power.
He said: “The UK is still way behind other countries in adoption due to misinformation campaigns.”
“Initiatives like Nesta’s ‘Visit a Heat Pump’ help to break down the myths, allowing potential buyers to learn about them from people who know best – those who already have them and love them.”
The programme was also praised by Lord Callanan, the UK minister for energy efficiency and green finance, as an important initiative to help homeowners decide on investing in a heat pump for their homes.