Nesta, the research and innovation foundation, said on 13 November 2024 that more than 600 people had booked a visit to see a heat pump in a home during the first six months of its Visit a Heat Pump service, and that the platform is now rolling out a new way for installers to market their installations through it1.
The service, at VisitAHeatPump.com, connects heat pump owners with people considering the technology. Visitors search by postcode, find nearby owners and book a visit to see a system in that owner's home1. Nesta said the platform now features 200 heat pump installers, and that installers can create an account to have their company and contact information shown next to all their installs, see their listed installs, create a link to share with prospective customers, and access content supporting previous customers to become hosts2.
"Over 600 people have booked a visit to see a heat pump in action in the first six months of the service, which is now rolling out a new way for installers to market their installations through the platform"
It reported significant improvements across all measures of attitudes, knowledge and confidence, and said the share who agreed they could imagine what it would be like to have a heat pump in their home rose from 21% before a visit to 79% after1.
| Statement (agree or strongly agree) | Before visit | After visit |
|---|---|---|
| I know what steps I would need to take to install a heat pump in my own home | 39% | 80% |
| I can imagine what it would be like to have a heat pump in my home | 21% | 79% |
| I understand how a heat pump works | 46% | 77% |
| My next heating system will use a heat pump as the main heat source | 61% | 71% |
| I have a clear understanding of the likely installation costs of a heat pump | 36% | 67% |
| I am confident that a heat pump would be an effective choice for my home | 30% | 62% |
| I have a clear understanding of the likely running costs of a heat pump | 10% | 49% |
Nesta said the statement on a heat pump as the next main heat source showed only a small and statistically non-significant improvement, and that a visit appears to polarise opinions: the share rating their likelihood of getting a heat pump as "very likely" rose from 26% to 38%, while 31% rated it one or more steps lower3. It also reported that 81% of visitors strongly agreed that visiting a heat pump was a worthwhile experience, and that more than 90% scored 8, 9 or 10 out of 10 on likelihood to recommend the service3.
By local authority, most visits took place in Lambeth (40 attendees), City of Edinburgh (32), Stockport (29), Southwark (26), Wandsworth (23) and Hackney (23). Buckinghamshire, Shropshire and Bristol have the most heat pump hosts1. Nesta said visits took place from Inverness to the Isle of Wight, and Neyland to Norwich1.
Why it matters for households
For a household weighing up a heat pump, the reported barrier is familiarity: Nesta said there are only 250,000 existing heat pumps in UK homes, so many people have never seen one in real life1. Seeing an installed system in a comparable property is presented as a way to judge how one would work at home, and the survey figures show the largest reported gains in understanding running costs, installation costs and the steps needed to install3. Nesta said visitors often choose houses similar to their own, and that visits help people reach a decision, positive or negative, more quickly, which it says saves customers and installers the cost of surveys that do not lead to an installation1. For a home's energy independence, the decision in question is the switch from a gas boiler to a low-carbon heating system, which Nesta describes as essential for the UK to reach net zero1. Nesta also said some visitors went on to use the same installer as their host3. Details of how a system is looked after once installed are covered in our guide to heat pump servicing and maintenance, and the wider subject in our heat pumps hub.
What happens next
Nesta said it has added prompts to the host sign-up page, made it possible for visitors to message hosts directly and request visits, and added filtering so visitors can find properties more like their own. It said it is confident the core of the platform works and could scale to support more visits2. Over the next six months it expects many more local, regional and national installers to sign up and encourage their past customers to join, and said it believes the platform will become a database of thousands of heat pump success stories2. No further dates have been reported. Our guide to the Visit a Heat Pump scheme explains how seeing an installed system before buying works.
Sources3 cited
- Visit a Heat Pump service sees over 600 visits booked in six months | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- What’s next for the platform, and how you might use it | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- Visitor experiences | Nesta, nesta.org.uk