Heating installers split on whether to begin fitting heat pumps, Baxi report finds
The transition to low carbon heating is at a finely balanced tipping point with installers split on whether they will be installing heat pumps in their customers’ homes.
That’s the main finding of a new report from heat solutions provider Baxi which assesses what would encourage installers to take the leap to low carbon sources of heat.
Nearly a third of installers – equivalent to about 37,000 of the more than 130,000 of the UK’s heating engineers – are prepared to embrace heat pumps in the near future. By contrast, around 30% say they are extremely unlikely to install heat pumps.
The government is targeting 600,000 heat pump installations every year by 2028. That is ten times the current market and represents a transformation from early adoption to a mass market proposition. It would require an army of low-carbon heating installers to be assisting homeowners and encourage them to make the change.
Amongst the main findings in the report “Heating Installers: Taking the Leap to a Low Carbon Future” are that the government and the industry will need to address the important issue of training costs, ensuring there is enough demand from customers and reducing paperwork.
The makes a series of recommendations which include spelling out stronger government initiatives that will drive demand for heat pumps over the coming decade; support for training costs on a first come-first served basis; and an industry wide campaign to market the role of a low carbon heating installer to attract new entrants.
