What is Heat Pump Ready?
It is an up to £60 million programme funded by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero as part of their Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) looking to accelerate the domestic uptake of heat pumps in the UK. It supports 35 innovative projects aiming to:
The programme is divided into three streams of activity:
- High density deployment projects: supporting the installation of heat pumps at scale in selected local areas, over a short period of time. The projects will be testing new methodologies to improve the customer journey and reduce the costs to install and operate heat pumps.
- Optimised solutions development projects: supporting the development of new tools, technologies and business models to:
a. Reduce the lifetime costs of heat pumps
b. Minimise home disruption
c. Create new business models to finance heat pump installations and maintenance
d. Improve the customer journey
e. Develop a smart and flexible home energy system - Trial support and learning: fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing across the supported projects, undertaking evaluation activities, and disseminating learnings and best practice to the wider heat pump market and associated sectors.
Why focus on heat pumps?
The carbon emissions produced by heating domestic homes is equivalent to all the diesel and petrol cars in the UK. Therefore, we need to decarbonise nearly all heat in buildings to meet Net Zero by 2050.
To ensure that we remain on a credible path to net zero, the UK Government has set a target for 600,000 installations per year by 2028.
Heat pumps are a well-known technology with significant uptake in other countries. For instance, ¼ of homes in Norway are heated via heat pumps.
Domestic heat pumps have a critical role to play in achieving net zero, even for scenarios where hydrogen is used for significant heat decarbonisation.
Heat Pump Ready is designed to support the heat pump market to reach 600,000 installations per year by 2028.
How do heat pumps work?
A heat pump works like a fridge in reverse. It uses electricity to transfer warmth from outdoors into the property.
Heat pumps are typically at least 3 times more efficient than a domestic natural gas boiler. They operate using electricity and will become even lower carbon as more electricity comes from renewables.
Heat pumps are more efficient than a fossil fuel boiler and provide more regular, lower temperature heating. However, they may need more indoor and outdoor space to install.
There are 3 main categories of heat pump a domestic user can install – air-source, ground-source and water-source. The choice depends on a number of factors including user needs, budget, and space available.
Watch this 10-minute introductory video on heat pumps to learn more:
For further information on heat pumps, check the following websites:
Energy Saving Trust introduction to heat pumps:
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/energy-at-home/heating-your-home/heat-pumps/
Energy Saving Trust in-depth guide to heat pumps:
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/in-depth-guide-to-heat-pumps/
ESC Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project:
https://es.catapult.org.uk/project/electrification-of-heat-demonstration/
GOV.UK Heat Pump Suitability Checker:
https://www.gov.uk/check-heat-pump/
The Heat Pump Ready programme is funded by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero as part of the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP). Research, collaboration and knowledge sharing is managed by the Carbon Trust with support from IPSOS and Technopolis.
