A trial giving heating engineers a free heat pump for their own homes is to be rolled out to thousands of people after it boosted professional support for the tech.
The “start at home” pilot by innovation agency Nesta to support heating engineers to install their first heat pump in their home found it boosted their technical knowledge, understanding of living with the technology, and confidence in promoting them to customers.
Experts warn large-scale deployment of clean electric-powered heat pumps is key to replacing the widespread use of gas boilers in homes to reduce carbon emissions as part of targets to cut greenhouse gases to “net zero” by 2050.
That means installing round 450,000 heat pumps in existing homes a year by 2030, requiring 38,000 more installers trained and confident to install heat pumps before then, Nesta said.
But while the number of heating engineers and plumbers who are training as heat pump installers is on the rise, that is not translating into a large active workforce focused on the technology, a report by Nesta warned.
It pointed to research by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) suggesting only 27% of newly trained installers have gone on to complete an installation within a year.
Many struggle with finding their first heat pump customer – which would allow them to achieve the certification needed to access government installation grants – while many still lack confidence in designing and installing systems, or even in the effectiveness of the technology, the report said.
Meanwhile, demand for work on gas boilers and general plumbing continues, providing greater certainty and familiarity.
So a pilot in partnership with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF) recruited 36 heating engineers from across Scotland, with half of them offered training on heat pump installation and the other half offered the training and a free heat pump to install in their home.
All the 18 participants who installed a heat pump in their home reported an increase in understanding of heat pump system design and installation – with 13 saying they had a substantial gain in knowledge.
And 11 reported a significant increase in confidence in heat pumps as a home heating technology, gaining confidence that they do work.
Living with heat pumps in their own homes also provided the engineers with more confidence and insight to advise customers, such as the issues they might have and how to solve them.
Nesta has now launched a government-grant funded programme to scale up the start-at-home scheme across Britain by signing up 5,000 heating engineers in the first 12 months, each of whom will receive expert support and a free heat pump to install in their own home.
Nesta’s Benoit Siberdt, who led the start at home project, said: “Giving heating engineers a free heat pump translated to more confidence in the technology and more credibility with customers.
“We think by scaling this nationally we can smash a big barrier to growing the heat pump installer workforce.
“We want plumbers and boiler installers to become advocates for heat pumps and we increase our chances of that if they trust the technology.”
Ryan Beattie, director of Thermatek Heating and part of the pilot, installing a heat pump in his home near Edinburgh, said the project was “invaluable to both my business and to me personally”.
“The route to becoming registered to install heat pumps is not always easy. The project has created a pathway through a confusing landscape.
“I’m now officially a registered heat pump installer and can offer government funding on our installs.
“We have two customers already in the quote stage and I’m excited to see what the future holds,” he said.
