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Heating News

Newcastle heat pump report published

Lucy Dixon
11.05.2023

The Newcastle Heat Pump Ready Feasibility Report has been published, revealing that 80% of the properties surveyed are ready for a heat pump.

The report follows Heatio, E.ON and consortium partner Newcastle City Council completing their Heat Pump Ready project.

Running from July 2022 to December 2022, the aim of the Newcastle Heat Pump Ready feasibility study was to demonstrate the coordination of technically and commercially feasible solutions for high-density heat pump deployment within Newcastle residential homes.

Heatio was selected to analyse the feasibility of Heat as a Service (HaaS) and if this could provide homeowners the support needed to overcome the barriers associated to the cost of air source heat pump (ASHP) installations in their homes.
Heatio’s HaaS presents a new model for how businesses sell heating, shifting the homeowner away from just buying fuel – the customer pays for a full HaaS package inclusive of a new ASHP system, all service and maintenance, designed around both warmth and comfort levels.
Customer and property characteristics are used to provide an optimised, tailor-made heating solution which will be maintained and operated through the Heatio Home Energy Management System (HEMS).
Focused on reducing costs and improving the customer experience at every stage of the heat pump journey, Heatio collaborated with its project partners to identify a property’s suitability whilst understanding consumer engagement, to determine if HaaS adoption is preferable.
The recently published report summarises the findings from the project, revealing that 80% of the 31,000 properties surveyed and reviewed within the urban area are ready for heat pump installations. The HaaS analysis further found that the consumers assessed would be willing to engage with this offering, dependent on the provision of a rental model and affordability, with the price point of the solution being an important consideration.

The study proved that Newcastle City has the potential for large-scale deployment of ASHPs and delivered invaluable insights that support a coordinated dense deployment via a HaaS programme. However, results further suggested that there is a need to fully explore a variety of finance products/propositions. This highlighted that homeowners require a portfolio of financing mechanisms that ensure choice and a clear return on investment, allowing them to make informed decisions between propositions.

Thomas Farquar, Heatio Commercial Director, said:

We are delighted to have been a part of this project which has enabled us to show how the deployment of heat pumps in local areas at scale is very much possible. This study has proven to be invaluable in gaining key insights into the consumer journey and gathering significant learnings on the challenges we face in progressing Heat as a Service as a new, innovative solution.

It is now vital that we continue to develop innovative clean technology and financing solutions that will help homeowners overcome the barriers around Heat Pump installations so that they can switch away from Gas & Oil to clean, renewable energy.

The Heat Pump Ready team will be at InstallerSHOW at the NEC from 27-29 June. 

See the full list of exhibitors here: installershow.com/exhibitors.

Free registration is open.