Change is coming to the domestic heating market, providing both air-con installers and traditional heating engineers with a wide new market to explore, offering significant consumer demand. Here, Iain Bevan, Commercial Manager – Heating & Renewables at Daikin UK, explains why now is the time to get you and your business ready.

With the UK government’s formal 2050 carbon-neutral target and the evolving attitudes within society, it is clear that change is coming. As a nation, we have all become greener and more environmentally-conscious, with homeowners increasingly turning to sustainable heating solutions. Boiler installations are set to decline and the renewable heating market is to rise. Heat pumps are one such example of these renewable solutions.

Previously more commonly sold into off-gas grid communities, air to water heat pumps are an efficient and cost-effective renewable heating system, able to provide heating, hot water and even comfort-cooling in a more sustainable way. With a new focus on renewables, the demand for heat pumps is growing, with both the new-build and private retrofit markets set to become huge growth areas. To put this into numbers, the Committee on Climate Change has forecast that if we are to meet the 2050 carbon-neutral target, there will need to be a shift within the domestic heating industry, with a move to installing an estimated one million heat pumps per year by 2030.

It is clear that this movement presents both traditional heating installers and air-con engineers with a challenge…and also significant business opportunities. For heating installers more accustomed to installing boilers, there is a need to future-proof their business by upskilling to renewables, such as heat pumps, ensuring that they are not left behind by the changing tide. For air-con installers, the growing demand for heat pumps offers an opportunity to use their existing skills and break into the domestic market, with their F Gas qualification standing them in good-stead.

One thing that is certain is that, if you are to truly maximise on the opportunities presented by this industry shift, you will need more than just an isolated training course.

Daikin’s Sustainable Home Network has the solution.

Designed to equip installers and engineers with the technical knowledge and skills to approach the heat pump market with confidence, the three-tiered scheme goes far beyond the provision of product and installation training, with a strong emphasis also placed on business growth and progression.

For example, heating installers with no particular experience or prior knowledge of heat pumps will enter the scheme as a Sustainable Home Installer. Here, they will receive free, high-quality product and installation training on Daikin’s monobloc heat pump solutions. Manufactured as a closed system, with no refrigerant, a monobloc is ideal for those currently without F Gas certification and starting out on their journey into the heat pump market. As well as receiving an extensive and tailored training programme, Sustainable Home Installers will also gain access to localised support, including site visits and post-installation checks, qualified consumer leads, and marketing materials and merchandise.

The second tier is exclusively for those with F Gas capability. Sustainable Home Experts will have access to Daikin’s complete range of low-temperature, high-temperature and hybrid heat pump solutions, as well as extended system warranties, unlimited product training and access to a business development fund. Once again, there are opportunities for further progression, with the final tier – Sustainable Home Centres – enabling experienced and proficient heat pump installers to become the face of the technology in their local community.

It is clear that the next few years will see the UK domestic heating industry undergo a significant transformation, with society moving away from fossil fuels and looking towards more renewable heating systems. Regardless of whether your skills lie in boilers or air-con systems, this growing consumer demand for heat pumps should be viewed as an opportunity for significant business growth, if approached correctly. Ensuring that you not only survive the change but use it to your advantage requires dedicated product training and business support, such as that offered by Daikin and the Sustainable Home Network. 

To learn more about the Sustainable Home Network and become part of the energy for change, please call 01932 879070 or visit: www.daikin.co.uk/energy-for-change/heating-installers.