Customer demand ‘main driver for installers to offer heat pump installations’

Customer demand is the main driver for installers to offer heat pump installations, suggests a newly published report. 

The Heating and Cooling Installer Study (HaCIS), commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and conducted by IFF Research (IFF) and ACE Research (ACE-R), highlights that installers are expecting consumer demand to increase as the public appetite for low carbon heating solutions increases, technology improves, and costs fall.  

In 2021, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said if the UK is to remain on track with its net zero targets, 3.3 million heat pumps need to be installed in existing homes by 2030, with this figure rising to 8 million by 2035. 

To deliver the one million domestic heat pump installations the CCC predicts are needed every year by the turn of the decade, scaling up demand is key. Currently, a quarter of all installers surveyed offer heat pump installation services to their customers, with a further 21% reporting that while they do not currently install heat pumps, they expect to in the future.  

The findings show larger businesses are more likely to provide heat pump installation services, with 68% of those with more than ten installers stating they already offer heat pumps. In total, 60% of current installers work for businesses which either already offer heat pump installations or expect to do so in the future. 

Around 43% of employers who do not currently install heat pumps note they would need to see an increase in customer demand before they begin working with the technology. 

The report divided heating and cooling installers into five archetypes, based on their attitudes and willingness to install heat pumps in future. Whilst consumer demand was a common motivator across all the archetypes, other factors were found to have varying levels of influence for different groups. For example, younger installers were typically more motivated by climate change and interested in learning to install heat pumps.  

Reflecting on the report’s findings, ACE-R acknowledges the need to drive up demand for heat pumps to trigger increased readiness to deploy from installers. The research team calls for Government to set out long-term heat pump policy, be outspoken in its support for heat pumps, and provide more clarity on plans regarding the development and use of hydrogen heating technologies. Such actions will provide the sector with the confidence needed for installers to commit time and money into heat pump training and skills. 

Steph Hacker, Senior Researcher at ACE-R, said: “This report highlights that more action is needed to create a suitable environment for the widespread heat pump deployment the UK will require to deliver on its net zero ambitions. Consumer demand is clearly key, and clear policy signals are needed to drive this forward. If 3.3 million heat pumps are to be installed by 2030, the Government needs to enable that shift by giving installers a clear direction of where the future lies.” 

Andrew Skone James, Head of Energy & Environment Research at IFF research said: “There’s lots of positive news here, with many installers in the workforce expecting the amount of time they spend working on heat pumps to ramp up significantly. However, the report also highlights that increasing demand will be crucial to ensure that installers can get a clear market signal that the right skills are required on the ground.”