Energy provider E.ON has released new research which reveals that more than half of UK builders do not have enough knowledge to advise on heat pumps.
The initial outlook forecasted by E.ON’s research had several positive aspects, with 43% of UK citizens planning to renovate their home this year and 75% wanting to choose sustainable options when they upgrade.
Also, builders themselves noted an 82% increase in interest from customers in sustainable renovations in the past year.
However, the research also indicated that both UK builders and their customers are either misinformed or uninformed about heat pumps, meaning that interest from British customers is often stalled before the point of installation.
The professionals
Along with the 56% of UK builders who are not knowledgeable enough to advise on heat pump installations, more than two-fifths (44%) say they wouldn’t recommend a heat pump to customers simply because they are unaware of the benefits they can provide for homeowners.
Only a third (30%) of builders feel comfortable advising on the installation of heat pumps if asked by a customer – much lower than their confidence around wall and loft insulation (50%), double and triple-glazed windows (43%), solar panels (42%) and energy-efficient boilers (41%).
UK builders are, in fact, more comfortable talking to customers about building materials being out of stock (46%) and unforeseen costs on a project (40%) than they are about heat pumps.
This is despite the fact that heat pumps are proven to be 3 to 4 times more efficient than LPG, oil, electricity and gas boilers, reducing our reliance on gas, as well as making homes more sustainable and reducing heating costs.
The customers
As previously mentioned, 75% of UK customers want to choose sustainable options when renovating their homes this year, yet 50% of the people surveyed believe heat pumps are too expensive to install.
Moreover, one in ten people (11%) are unaware of grants like the UK government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which can provide a grant of up to £7,500 to aid in the upfront cost and installation fees.
This could be the result of a stalled start to the scheme’s uptake; it funded the installation of nearly 18,900 heat pumps in England and Wales from May 2022 to December 2023 but had originally budgeted for up to 50,000 installations by this point.
Since the BUS’ 50% grant uplift from £5,000 to £7,500 in September 2023, however, there has been a notable uptick, as is evident from the 39% year-on-year increase in January 2024.
Other factors identified in E.ON’s research that deter people from buying heat pumps include the cost of installation (56%), having to change to a new heating system (28%), and lack of understanding of the benefits of heat pumps (24%).
Common misconceptions around heat pumps highlighted in the research are as follows: they can only be installed in modern, well-insulated homes (20%); they take a long time to heat a home (16%); they’re a new and untested technology (15%); they can only provide heating, and not hot water (15%); and they cost more to run than a gas boiler (13%).
Alastair Hotchkiss, heat pump product manager at E.ON, said: “It is great to see that three-quarters of people want to make their homes more sustainable with solutions such as heat pumps, but there are many misconceptions about the benefits they can offer.
“Heating homes account for 17% of UK carbon emissions – most of which are from gas boilers. We need to make new energy work, and if the UK is to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we must reduce our reliance on gas; heat pumps are a fantastic way to do that.”
