Homeowners and heat pumps
In this article
- Key findings
- Background
- Household’s awareness and understanding of heat pumps
- Once made aware, younger homeowners are more likely than older homeowners to consider installing a heat pump
- The eco-conscious and those embracing sustainable behaviours are more interested in heat pumps
- What are the main barriers for homeowners?
- Do the barriers differ for the most willing households?
- Better insulated homes have more willing homeowners
Key findings
- Our research shows that many homeowners have not heard of heat pumps or do not know what they are. This highlights the need for a public engagement campaign.
- Public engagement is more likely to be effective among groups that already demonstrate openness to purchasing heat pumps, including (i) younger homeowners, (ii) those concerned about climate change, and (iii) sustainability-focused buyers.
- Targeting groups that are more likely to adopt heat pumps can stimulate demand, encourage installer availability, and reduce prices. Increasing the installation of heat pumps amongst these groups can also build consumer confidence amongst more sceptical groups.
- A significant proportion of older homeowners are not convinced about heat pump technology being good enough to heat their home. This means that more older homeowners may adopt heat pumps if given more information about the technology.
- Cost is also a significant barrier to homeowners installing heat pumps. A public engagement campaign should highlight available support, such as the £7,5000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.
Background
The UK needs to rapidly increase the adoption of low carbon heating if we are to meet the government’s target for banning the sale of gas and other fossil fuel boilers by 2035. Households that are more ready, willing and able to install low carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, could help to lead the way. Identifying these early adopters will help to stimulate market growth and make businesses and other households feel confident to invest in the changes that are needed. At the same time it is important to understand the concerns and barriers facing other households so that these can be addressed as part of the transition to cleaner heating.
Our recent research into consumer attitudes, behaviours and barriers towards sustainability published in September 2023 was able to identify some of the households that may be more willing to purchase a heat pump in the near future, as well as some of the barriers facing households. The survey ran in June 2023 and provided insight into how many consumers are adopting more sustainable behaviours, what barriers they face, and what help they need to play their part in the transition to Net Zero. In the survey, we checked how much homeowners know about heat pumps and if they are willing to install them. We also asked about what might stop them from buying a heat pump. In this article, we look more closely at these insights.
Household’s awareness and understanding of heat pumps
Our research revealed that many homeowners have not heard of heat pumps or don't know what they are. To be specific, 14% of homeowners admitted they hadn't even heard about heat pumps, while 3 in 10 (30%) said they had heard of them but couldn't quite explain their functionality. This widespread lack of awareness is a fundamental barrier to wider adoption of heat pumps and will need to be addressed if the market is to grow.
However, even among those who had some understanding of heat pumps, only 16% indicated they would consider installing one in their home if needed within the next 12 months. 3 in 10 (32%) said they might consider it, but a substantial half (51%) firmly stated they would not. This illustrates that any awareness raising activity must also understand the concerns that some households have about heat pumps and provide convincing answers to their questions.
Homeowners knowledge and willingness to install a heat pump
Source: Which? Consumer Insight Tracker, Online Poll weighted to be nationally representative, surveyed 2,067 consumers from 9th to 11th June 2023 (homeowners = 1,307). Homeowners who have heard of heat pumps and know what they are were asked if they would consider installing a heat pump if their current heat system needed replacing in the next 12 months.
Once made aware, younger homeowners are more likely than older homeowners to consider installing a heat pump
Younger homeowners (those aged 18 to 34 years old) were most likely to be unaware of heat pumps, with 30% reporting they had never heard of them before. This was in stark contrast to older homeowners where only 6% of those age 55+ had not heard of heat pumps.
Heat pump awareness by age
Source: Which? Consumer Insight Tracker, Online Poll conducted from 9th-11th June 2023 with 2,067 consumers (1,284 homeowners). The sample is weighted to be nationally representative. Base sizes age groups: 18 to 34 year olds (238), 35 to 54 year olds (412), 55 years and older (634).
Despite the lower awareness among young homeowners, 39% of those who knew about heat pumps said they ‘would’ consider installing one if they needed to replace their current heating system in the next 12 months and 42% said they ‘might’ consider. In comparison, only 8% of homeowners aged 55+ showed a similar openness to heat pump installation.
Although based on a smaller sample, this result suggests that targeting younger homeowners could be effective, as this group already exhibits a stronger inclination towards purchasing heat pumps, once they are informed about them.
Heat pump willingness amongst those aware by age
Source: Which? Consumer Insight Tracker, Online Poll conducted from 9th-11th June 2023 with 2,067 consumers (1,284 homeowners). The sample is weighted to be nationally representative. Base sizes age groups: 18 to 34 year olds (97), 35 to 54 year olds (211), 55 years and older (401).
The eco-conscious and those embracing sustainable behaviours are more interested in heat pumps
Not surprisingly, homeowners who show greater concern about climate change and those who feel a strong sense of responsibility to reduce their environmental impact are more likely to be aware of heat pumps and more inclined to consider installing a heat pump.
Whilst 16% of those very concerned about climate said they would consider installing a heat pump if needed in the next 12 months, only 2% of those not concerned said they would consider it. The respective figures were 15% for those who feel very responsible to reduce their carbon footprint and 3% for those who do not feel at all responsible.
However, as with all homeowners, a significant challenge lies in the fact that a substantial portion of these environmentally conscious homeowners, 4 in 10, are not aware of what heat pumps are or don't understand their functionality (40% of those very concerned about climate change and 40% who feel very responsible to reduce their environmental impact). Raising awareness amongst this group is likely to increase consideration of purchasing a heat pump more than with other groups.
Heat pump knowledge and willingness by climate change views
Source: Which? Consumer Insight Tracker, Online Poll conducted from 9th-11th June 2023 with 2,067 consumers (1,284 homeowners). The sample is weighted to be nationally representative. Base sizes climate change concern: Very concerned (476), Somewhat concerned (542), NET: not concerned (250). Base sizes for responsibility felt to reduce carbon footprint: Very responsible (406), Somewhat responsible (665), NET: not responsible (181).
These trends above were also seen amongst homeowners who are already embracing or contemplating other sustainable investment behaviours. Homeowners who already own an electric vehicle or intend to buy one as their next vehicle were much more likely to say they would consider installing a heat pump (26%) than all homeowners (9%). This pattern was also observed for homeowners who said their electricity supply is on a ‘green or renewable’ tariff and/or they are with a ‘green’ provider (16% compared to 7% who were not).
In addition to these specific investment behaviours, as part of our annual sustainability report, we developed a metric to classify consumers based on all their current behaviours and intentions we asked about in respect to transport, home energy and heating, and food habits. This classed UK adults into one of three categories, for which one in five of adults were classed as Low Emitters (20%), just over half were classed as Small Adjusters (51%) and 3 in 10 (29%) were classed as High Emitters.
- Low Emitters - 20% of UK adults
- Small Adjusters - 51% of UK adults
- High Emitters - 29% of UK adults
This metric provides a useful indicator of UK adults' openness to sustainable lifestyle changes and investment choices. High Emitters were much less likely to be aware of heat pumps and willing to consider one if needed in the next 12 months. To be specific, only three in 10 (30%) of Low Emitters are not knowledgeable of heat pumps, compared to over six in 10 of High Emitters (62%), made up of 29% who have never heard of them and 33% who have heard of them but don’t know what they are [1]. Almost half of Low Emitters (45%) said they might consider a heat pump, compared to one in four (25%) of Small Adjusters and just 11% of High Emitters.
These insights suggest that public engagement may be particularly effective amongst groups that already demonstrate a greater openness to purchasing a heat pump, such as homeowners that express more concern about climate change and those who have already made purchases based on sustainability concerns.
Heat pump knowledge and willingness by other sustainable behaviours
Source: Which? Consumer Insight Tracker, Online Poll conducted from 9th-11th June 2023 with 2,067 consumers (1,284 homeowners). The sample is weighted to be nationally representative. Base sizes for electric vehicles: EV owner or intend to buy as next vehicle (109), Would consider buying EV in future (446), Wouldn’t consider EV (343). Base sizes for electricity supply: On green or renewable tariff and/or with green provider (503), Not on green tariff or with green provider (315), Don’t know if on green tariff or with green provider (466). Base sizes classification: Low Emitters (337), Small Adjusters (692), High Emitters (255).
What are the main barriers for homeowners?
The primary obstacle amongst homeowners who knew what heat pumps are was cost, with two thirds (67%) of homeowners saying it would be too expensive [2]. This financial concern was fairly consistent across age groups.
When looking at the other obstacles, concerns about the technology were the second biggest barrier with 44% of aware homeowners citing this barrier. This barrier however, differed greatly by age. Over half (57%) of older homeowners who knew what heat pumps are expressed doubts about heat pump technology being good enough to heat their homes. This was three times larger than the proportion of younger homeowners who said they weren’t convinced by it (18%).
These findings suggest that if efforts are made to tackle scepticism and address doubts about heat pumps among older homeowners, it could encourage more of this group to adopt this technology for heating their homes.
Barriers to installing a heat pump by age
Source: Which? Consumer Insight Tracker, Online Poll conducted from 9th-11th June 2023 with 2,067 consumers (1,284 homeowners). The sample is weighted to be nationally representative. Base sizes age groups: 18 to 34 year olds (238), 35 to 54 year olds (412), 55 years and older (634).
Do the barriers differ for the most willing households?
Our research shows that currently one in 10 (9%) UK homeowners reported that they are aware of heat pumps and would consider installing one if needed in the next 12 months. Of these people, one in five (22%) mentioned that they don’t see any barriers to installing a heat pump. This suggests they would be willing to get one if their current heating system needed replacing within the next year. However, the other four in five homeowners who said they would consider a heat pump pointed out at least one issue holding them back.
For this group, the most common concern remained cost, with 45% mentioning heat pumps being too expensive as a barrier.
However, the second most common barrier for this group of willing homeowners was not having enough information to make an informed decision (20%). This was only the fifth highest barrier reported by other homeowners. This demonstrates the importance of willing homeowners receiving useful and reliable information regarding heat pumps when their current heating system requires replacement.
Better insulated homes have more willing homeowners
Finally it is worth considering the insulation of people’s homes as heat pumps will work most effectively in homes with a reasonable level of insulation. Willingness to install a heat pump was slightly higher amongst homeowners with better insulated homes with 31% of homeowners that had three forms of insulation aware of heat pumps saying they would or might consider installing one, compared with 21% who didn’t have any insulation. This suggests that progress could be made with these relatively well insulated homes whilst programmes to improve the insulation of other homes bring these up to a standard where a heat pump will be more effective.
So what does this all mean?
The Prime Minister recently recommitted the government to a ban on the installation of new fossil fuel heating systems, including gas boilers, by 2035, and the government has said that heat pumps will be the most appropriate form of low carbon heating for most homes. Although the Prime Minister introduced a new exemption for up to 20% of homeowners who will most struggle to make the switch to heat pumps or other low-carbon alternatives due to expensive retrofitting or a very large electricity connection, meeting this target will still require the market for heat pumps to expand rapidly over the next 12 years. The government’s own interim target is for 600,000 heat pumps to be installed per year by 2030.
The government is supporting an expansion in the training of heat pump installers and has introduced a clean heat market mechanism that requires boiler manufacturers to increase their sales of heat pumps. The market for heat pumps is also becoming more competitive with energy providers introducing new offers and increasing their marketing. However improvements in the supply of installers and heat pumps will need to be matched by an expansion in demand.
Our research clearly shows that across all groups there are a large number of homeowners that have not heard of heat pumps or don’t know what they are. This suggests that a public engagement campaign would be an obvious first step towards increasing demand. However our results suggest that public engagement may be particularly effective amongst groups that already demonstrate a greater openness to purchasing a heat pump, such as younger homeowners, homeowners that express more concern about climate change and those who have already made purchases based on sustainability concerns.
Amongst those that are aware, cost and a lack of information are seen as significant barriers, so the campaign should clearly signal the support that is available for homeowners, including the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.
Targeting groups that are more likely to be open to installing a heat pump should help to increase demand more quickly, encourage businesses that need to invest in this market to expand the availability of installers, and reduce prices. It may also have a wider impact on demand as seeing more heat pumps being installed will help to build confidence amongst other homeowners, addressing concerns about the suitability of heat pumps for different homes.
This targeting should happen alongside consideration of the times when homeowners are most likely to be changing their heating system, for example when their heating system is in need of replacement or when moving into a home with an old heating system. In both cases the government should work with relevant stakeholders that are engaged with these groups or at these particular times.
Targeting a ‘warm’ group of homeowners that are more willing to consider buying a heat pump could help stimulate the market however it is important that the transition to low carbon heat is broad based and homeowners are not left behind because of income, location or the type of property they live in. Targeting homeowners that are more likely to install a heat pump in the short term will have wider benefits for all consumers, but the specific concerns of other groups should also be addressed. This research showed a significant proportion of older homeowners are not convinced about heat pump technology being good enough to heat their home. This means that more older homeowners may consider a heat pump if given more information about the technology. In addition, information and advice will be needed to improve insulation in poorly insulated homes, sufficient grid connections to support the switch to electrified heat and targeted financial support for households that cannot afford to make the switch.