Nesta has conducted a survey of heat pump owners to learn more about household experiences of using a heat pump and how those experiences compared to fossil fuel-based heating systems.
It has published a report summarising the findings, which include:
- heat pump users are highly satisfied with their heat pumps, considering them to be safe, reliable, quiet heat sources that are effective for space heating and producing hot water;
- overall, satisfaction levels between heat pump and gas boiler users are very similar. One notable difference was in satisfaction with ‘ease of use and control’, where heat pump users reported lower satisfaction and lower confidence;
- compared to their previous heating system, 73% of heat pump owners are as satisfied or more satisfied with their heat pump. However, this changed depending on whether they installed the heat pump into their own home or whether they moved into a home with a heat pump already installed;
- there was no evidence that user satisfaction with heat pumps compared to their previous heating system differed according to the age of people’s home. This suggests that heat pumps are likely to be effective across the range of British residential property types;
- most heat pump installations were carried out by independent installers with a lead time of 1-2 months and people were generally satisfied with their installation experience;
- when people moved into houses with heat pumps that were installed by a previous owner, their prior awareness was mixed. However, although some concerns were reported, heat pumps generally had a positive impact on people’s house purchase decisions.
Madeleine Gabriel, director of sustainable future at Nesta, said:
It’s time to put to rest outdated ideas that older homes don’t support heat pumps. The rollout of heat pumps across all property types in Britain is proving that the age of your house doesn’t have to be a big factor when deciding whether to get a greener heating system.
Heating homes with fossil fuels like gas contribute as much as 15% of the UK’s carbon emissions and so the switch to heat pumps is crucial for getting to net zero. This is the first time we’ve been able to get a fuller picture of the experiences of people keeping their homes warm with heat pumps, and the high levels of satisfaction are encouraging.
With heat pumps getting the thumbs up from those that use them, the government should redouble its efforts to meet the timetable it has set out for phasing out fossil fuel heating. It should be easier and cheaper for people to opt to replace gas boilers with renewable heating when a boiler reaches the end of its life.
Read the report here: media.nesta.org.uk/documents/Heat_pump_user_survey_report_May_2023.docx.pdf
