Building on the success of a pilot programme begun in 2023, Nesta has launched phase two of its ‘Start at Home’ project, aiming support up to 5,000 UK heating engineers with expert training, guidance and a free heat pump to install in their own homes.
Results of the initial pilot revealed that providing heating engineers with both the training and heat pump to fit in their own homes significantly increased their confidence, technical knowledge and willingness to embrace low-carbon technologies.
Nesta, in partnership with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF), initially recruited 36 experienced heating engineers across Scotland to participate in the first-of-its-kind pilot. The trial featured two groups: one received training on heat pump installation, while the other received both training and a free heat pump to install in their own homes.
All of the 18 participants who installed a heat pump in their own home reported an increase in their understanding of heat pump system design and installation, with 13 out of 18 describing it as a substantial gain. After installing a heat pump in their own home, 11 of 18 participants reported a significant increase in their confidence in heat pumps as a home heating technology – One heating engineer, who employees around nine people, said: “Now that I can see it working and see it heating the house, I can confidently say that they do work”.
Living with heat pumps in their own homes also provided far more confidence and insight to advise customers. One engineer said: “As we’ve lived with it, I would know the issues that the customer has because I’ve probably already had them and I know how to solve them now”.
The ‘Start at Home’ project aims to address a significant barrier in the UK’s efforts to shift from gas to low carbon heating like heat pumps. While a growing number of heating engineers are completing heat pump training, this has not yet translated into a large, active workforce of heat pump installers.
Currently heating engineers who complete training on heat pump installation struggle to get their first ‘real world’ customer. A DESNZ survey found that only 27% of newly trained installers completed a heat pump installation within a year, partly due to demand but also other issues such as confidence in the technology and the relevant accreditation. Offering a free installation to engineers in their own home will greatly increase engineers’ confidence in the installation of the technology and gives them the option to seek MCS accreditation.
The Climate Change Committee projects that we need to install around 450,000 heat pumps in existing homes per year by 2030. To do this, we’ll need roughly 38,000 more installers trained and confident to install heat pumps before 2030.
Today, Nesta has launched phase two of ‘Start at Home’, which seeks to scale the model across Britain by signing up 5,000 heating engineers in the first 12 months, each of whom will receive expert support and a free heat pump to install in their own home.
The heat pumps are funded through existing grants and the schemes will be operated by manufacturers and umbrella schemes, including the Heat Pump Installer Network, Vaillant in partnership with VitoEnergy and EcoFuture, and HISA.
Nesta is working to add more partners to scale up capacity and is exploring ways to ‘crowd in’ more funding to help partners bridge the period between purchasing a heat pump for an installer and the rebate from government grants. Nesta will be supporting partners to reach installers through a nationwide campaign, evaluating impact and sharing learning with industry and governments.
Benoit Siberdt is a senior analyst at Nesta and led the Start at Home project. He says: “Giving heating engineers a free heat pump translated to more confidence in the technology and more credibility with customers. We think by scaling this nationally we can smash a big barrier to growing the heat pump installer workforce. We want plumbers and boiler installers to become advocates for heat pumps and we increase our chances of that if they trust the technology”
Fiona Hodgson is chief executive of the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF). She comments: “Start at Home has shown the transformative effect of combining training with real, hands-on experience. Supporting installers to fit heat pumps in their own homes not only significantly improves installation competency, system design understanding and operational insight, but also boosts confidence and credibility in the technology. Looking ahead, this scalable model offers a clear pathway to rapidly grow a technically proficient workforce capable of delivering high-quality heat pump installations and driving forward the UK’s low carbon heating transition.”
Ryan Beattie is director of Thermatek Heating and was part of the pilot. He adds: “The project has been invaluable to both my business and to me personally. The route to becoming registered to install heat pumps is not always easy. The project has created a pathway through a confusing landscape. I have just in the last week received my MCS number. I’m now officially a registered heat pump installer and can offer government funding on our installs. We have two customers already in the quote stage and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
From today engineers can visit https://www.startathome.org.uk to sign up for a scheme.
