Nesta has published figures showing that 425 people had signed up to be hosts on the Visit a Heat Pump platform as of 14 October 2024, six months after the service launched nationwide on 11 April 20241. The platform lets householders book a visit to see an installed heat pump in a real home before deciding whether to buy one1.
Over a hundred hosts signed up in the first week after launch, and since then an average of six people a week have signed up1. Hosts are spread across Great Britain, from Inverness to the Isle of Wight, and Neyland to Norwich1. By nation, 376 hosts (88.5%) are in England, 39 (9.2%) in Scotland and 10 (2.4%) in Wales1. Nesta states this distribution reflects a slight underrepresentation of hosts in Wales compared with its share of the overall UK population, while England and Scotland are slightly overrepresented relative to their populations1.
"As of 14 October 2024, six months after the service launched, 425 people have signed up to be hosts on the platform."
Most hosts had their heat pump installed within the past three years, and the oldest heat pump on the platform was installed in 20071. By property type, 215 hosts live in detached properties, 105 in semi-detached properties, 67 in terraces and 21 in bungalows; six hosts are showrooms and five live in flats1. Hosts most commonly live in pre-1920s properties, with 101 properties from that period, followed by 80 built between 1965 and 1982, 71 built between 1983 and 2002, 71 built after 2003, 57 built between 1920 and 1944 and 39 built between 1945 and 19641.
| Property age | Number of properties |
|---|---|
| Pre-1920 | 101 |
| 1920-1944 | 57 |
| 1945-1964 | 39 |
| 1965-1982 | 80 |
| 1983-2002 | 71 |
| Post-2003 | 71 |
On bookings, 61 hosts had between one and five booked places across their events, 28 had six to ten, 14 had 11 to 20 and three had more than 201. Nesta notes that each visitor makes a booking, and a booking can contain multiple places if people visit as a group1. Of the 319 hosts who said who installed their heat pump, 194 installers are represented on the platform, 146 of them with only one heat pump featured1. The most commonly used installers were Octopus (46 hosts), Aira (6 hosts), EnergyZone (5 hosts) and British Gas (5 hosts)1.
Why it matters for households
The figures give a picture of what a householder can expect to see if they use the Visit a Heat Pump scheme: a system in an occupied home, most often installed in the past three years, and more often in a detached property than any other type1. The spread of property ages, with pre-1920s homes the single largest group, indicates that hosts are not confined to new-build properties1. For a household weighing up whether a heat pump suits its own home, a visit offers direct evidence of how a system was installed and how it performs in a building of a similar type or age, rather than relying on specification sheets alone1.
The installer data shows a market in which most installers on the platform appear once, while one installer, Octopus, accounts for 46 of the 319 hosts who named theirs1. Nesta reports that some visitors first came into contact with the platform through links on the Octopus website, and that some of those visitors have since become hosts themselves1. For households, the practical point is that the platform records which firms installed working systems in homes that householders can visit, alongside the Octopus Energy heat pumps already documented1.
What happens next
Nesta's report, Seeing is believing, was published on 13 November 2024 and includes further sections on host experiences and motivations, the visitors and their expectations, visitor experiences, and what is next for the platform1. No further sign-up figures beyond 14 October 2024 have been reported1.