When given the choice between an air source heat pump, a ground source heat pump, an electric boiler, or a hybrid, 74% of the 332 respondents said they'd rather fit a hybrid heating system.

The survey also found that 70% of installers want to install heat pumps but aren’t trained to do so and, even if they were, 95% don’t have the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation necessary to access the BUS grants (or the Smart Export Guarantee) on behalf of their customers.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) felt ill-informed about the climate-driven changes affecting the HVAC industry, which could explain why 44% of installers surveyed don’t believe the climate crisis is as serious as it's made out to be.

And, with gas boilers still the most significant slice of the current heating mix, installers were also questioned about what qualities they look for  when purchasing a boiler. When asked what matters most out of these four features: ‘price’, ‘reliability’, ‘versatility’, or ‘efficiency’, 84% responded with ‘reliability’ as their first choice, followed by efficiency (8%), price (7%), and versatility (1%).

Speaking about the research, Terri Hickman, Intergas Marketing Communications Manager, said: "There’s a lot of assumed knowledge about our industry and we wanted to ask installers directly how they felt about specific environmental issues, especially now as we’re all having to cope with increased economic pressures. The information we’ve gained will help inform our decisions going forward."