Nesta, described in its own announcement as an innovation charity, launched the nationwide Visit a Heat Pump service on 11 April 20241. The online platform lets householders search by postcode, find nearby heat pump owners and book a visit to see a system in person1. The scheme had run as a pilot in 2022 before the official launch2.
At launch, 150 heat pump owners had signed up across the UK, from Falkirk to Bristol, with London and central Scotland leading on host numbers and East Anglia described as a hot spot with 11 hosts advertising visits1. Nesta said there were then 250,000 heat pumps in UK homes, based on its analysis of MCS data1. By 7 April 2025, 1,030 bookings had been made and 1,672 places booked, up from 412 bookings six months earlier, with 912 people registered to host3. By April 2026, more than 1,200 owners had registered and the scheme had connected nearly 2,500 people across more than 1,500 bookings2. Nesta's 2026 figure for heat pumps in UK homes is around 260,0002.
Hosts' homes span a range of ages and types. Nesta reported that post-2003 homes make up 25 per cent of registered houses, pre-1920 homes 18 per cent, 1965-1982 homes 17 per cent and 1920-1944 homes 11 per cent2. London has seen the most visits, at 247, followed by Edinburgh with 39 and Bristol with 332.
"It's great to see how many people up and down the country are making use of this scheme. If all visitors of Nesta's Visit a Heat Pump scheme went on to install a heat pump, annually we could prevent around 4,712 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere in the first place."
A 2025 survey of 154 visitors found 55 per cent went on to install a heat pump after a visit, with a further 18 per cent reporting they intended to and had taken steps towards it2. Nesta's earlier one-year review found all but one of 352 post-visit respondents agreed a visit was worthwhile, and that the statement about a heat pump being the next main heat source showed only a small and statistically non-significant improvement3. Nesta said visits appeared to polarise opinions, helping people reach an informed decision quicker3.
Why it matters for households
For a household weighing up a heat pump, the practical obstacle Nesta identifies is unfamiliarity: most people have never seen one working, which makes it harder to judge how the equipment would fit their own home2. Seeing an installed system in a similar property is presented as social proof, and Nesta's own research found cost, including preparatory upgrades, upfront cost and running costs, was the biggest barrier reported in interviews, while an appeal to home-grown energy ran across all groups it studied4. Nesta's guidance on seeing an installed system before you buy covers how visits work. For households comparing options, the site's pages on running costs against a gas boiler and on cost with a Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant set out the figures, and the Clean Heat Grant page explains the scheme that became the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Air-to-air units are treated separately: see why air-to-air heat pumps do not get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. Hybrid arrangements are covered in whether a hybrid heat pump and gas boiler can keep a home as warm.
What happens next
Nesta said it is committed to maintaining and developing Visit a Heat Pump3. No further dated milestones for the scheme have been reported.
Sources4 cited
- Nesta launches nationwide Visit a Heat Pump service | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- More than 1,200 heat pump owners have registered with Nesta’s Visit a Heat Pump scheme as it celebrates two years since launch | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- One year on, Visit a Heat Pump sees over 1,600 visitors | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- Decoding the heat pump consumer: seven key insights from our research and campaigns | Nesta, nesta.org.uk