Securing the UK’s energy supply and meeting its net-zero targets is a significant priority for the UK government. 

Heat pumps have been highlighted as a key renewable solution in the country’s future heating strategy, which, as in many other European countries, is aimed at reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels and stabilising energy prices for the longer term.

The heat pump market in the UK has doubled in size in recent years and government is targeting 600,000 domestic heat pump installations per year by 2028. While this would represent significant progress, we still need to accelerate the near-term momentum and demand in the marketplace to get there.

Upskilling into heat pumps will allow tradespeople to future-proof their businesses as fossil fuels are phased out. However, it’s isn’t just installation processes they need to know inside out. They also need to fully understand and be able to communicate to homeowners the cost and carbon savings heat pumps associated with heat pumps over their lifetime. 

This will help customers identify the best solution for their home, with the highest level of energy savings a key consideration given the current cost of living crisis.

We are urging installers to upskill to meet the coming demand and drive uptake across the country as we strive to decarbonise home heating.

Energy and cost savings

Heat pumps are significantly more efficient than gas boilers, which is not only better for the environment but leaves households far less exposed to price changes on the global gas market and can generate significant cost savings across their 15 year lifetime.

Based on today’s energy prices, if we take an average-sized three-bedroom home with demand of 12,000kWh, switching from a fossil fuel boiler to an air source heat pump can save homeowners, over its 15 year lifespan, more than £3,000 compared to a gas boiler. This rises to more than £6,000 compared to oil, and more than £9,000 compared to LPG.

Couple this with lifetime savings of between 24 and 37 tonnes of carbon when switching from gas, oil or LPG – the equivalent of six return flights from London to San Francisco. 

Heat pumps are the obvious choice to reduce the carbon footprint of UK homes and represent our best chance to make a significant contribution towards our national net-zero targets.

Understanding heat pump technology and the significant cost and carbon savings they offer is just as important to homeowners as knowing that it will be installed by a highly trained professional.

Getting it right first time

It’s vital that homeowners have a good experience during the installation process, and confidence in their heat pump solution in the weeks, months, and years that follow. These early heat pump adopters will effectively become ambassadors for the technology and can encourage others to make the move as well.

And for installers, ensuring the install is carried out to a high standard will eliminate the potential need for follow-up visits to resolve any issues – increasing the likelihood of word-of-mouth recommendations, and maximising the time available to take on more new jobs.

The Heat Pump Association has created a three day air source and ground source heat pump foundation course that is more closely aligned to industry requirements than anything else that has been on offer to date. And to facilitate the upskilling of installers in their thousands, third party providers, such as Daikin, are accredited to deliver the course. 

Heat pump technology is still new to many installers in the heating industry and, with this in mind, the course covers the fundamentals of how a heat pump works, as well as the finer technical details of the installation.

It also provides a detailed overview of how to select the right heat pump for a particular home – starting by carrying out a thorough heat loss calculation for the property and understanding the household’s hot water demands to ensure their requirements can be met. 

The government is currently looking at whether to make courses like this one mandatory for heat pump installers. 

The importance of product training

As well as a solid grounding in heat pump theory and best practice, product-specific training is a good idea for installers looking to get every install right first time. 

For instance, Daikin provides a three-level course format for its Daikin Altherma air source heat pumps – including Monobloc, low temperature, high temperature, and hybrid systems.

Each level of the course is tailored to suit different abilities, allowing installers to progress from a standard installation through to more complex fault finding.

Our training is delivered via live streaming modules online, and as full day courses at our training centres in Woking, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. Our partner Daikin Sustainable Homes Centres give us an even wider national footprint. They offer completely free product training and refresher courses to local installers, cutting down on cost and time taken away from billable work.

The time is now

By increasing the number of heat pumps installed in UK homes, we can both reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels and reduce energy bills in the long term – and, importantly, it is a tried and tested technology that is already being rolled out.

Those installers who are among the first to make the move to eco heating can enjoy a competitive advantage while others catch up. But having an answer to the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ when it comes to heat pumps is equally important – the rest will look after itself.