Heat Pump Positive
Who's most likely to talk a homeowner out of a heat pump? Often, it's the person they trust most.
Tradespeople are one of the most trusted voices on home heating; ranking higher on trust than energy companies, politicians and influencers. Yet many heat pump trained installers aren't promoting them. Nearly four in ten qualified installers don't go on to install a heat pump right away (Heat Pump Association), not out of stubbornness, but because they're protecting a hard-won reputation, unsure if their customers are ready for the change.
"There'd be lads talking their customers out of a heat pump just because they don't understand it." — Heating Engineer, Hertfordshire
Enter: Heat Pump Positive. A project to understand what it takes to turn trained installers into confident heat pump ambassadors, and test what support they need to get there.
What are the barriers?
- Technical training doesn't always give installers the hands-on experience or confidence to have constructive heat pump conversations with customers.
- Many are wary of defending a product they don't fully trust will work in all types of homes, and don’t want to leave people with cold homes.
- Installers take pride in their work and reputation, as a ‘newer’ technology heat pumps often felt unfamiliar and risky
- Installation and running costs, alongside customer expectations shaped by gas boilers can be difficult to address.
"I know that gas is reliable and I've got to defend my reputation." - Heating Engineer, London
We wanted to know: what would help installers feel more confident in conversations with customers about heat pumps? Our hunch was that these trusted messengers needed support.
What we did
Over seven months, we worked with a small cohort of twelve heat-pump-trained installers to understand their experiences and co-design communication tools which they then tested in real customer conversations. We brought them together online through four sessions including a training session and a private group chat so they could share their feedback and hear each other's experiences.
"I also think your approach was good in the sense that you took on board comments that were made, and factored that into the materials you produced, which I think gave a sense of value to the project." - P.6 Heating Engineer, London
So, what did we learn...
In the same way that installers have an influential voice to homeowners, they are equally influential to each other. Being part of a community of likeminded tradespeople validated their challenges and gave space to share solutions and ideas together. Simple and realistic ways to talk about heat pumps helped further build confidence and prompted more conversations with potential heat pump adopters.
- Heating Engineer, Buckinghamshire
Our findings
Being a heating engineer is often a solitary job, and the loudest voices in the trade are often the most sceptical. But many trained installers are curious if needing more support to become ambassadors. Coming together as a group helped validate their experiences and made customer conversations feel more worth it, which combined sifted the narrative to be more positive.
Of the seven installers who completed the project, all either grew or maintained their confidence 'that heat pumps will work'. Their identity also shifted, those identifying as a "heat pump ambassador" rose from three to five of seven by project end (71%). This meant behaviour also changed: Before the project, most installers shared no information about heat pumps with customers, beyond a quote. By the end, all said the co-designed tools gave them useful things to say, and helped customers understand heat pumps better.
"Nobody has given me something like this before, it's helpful." Heating engineer, London
The cohort co-designed the communication tools and messaging used in the trial, created from the barriers they told us they faced. The tools used language the installers felt was real to their experiences and how they communicate – and as a result, the installers surprised themselves with their success. The tools that performed best shared the same qualities: simple, realistic and adaptable to the installer's own voice and the customer in front of them, rather than a fixed script.
"To be honest, some of the responses I got were more positive than I was expecting." — Heating Engineer, London
Customer communications aren’t a fix-all. Installers are a key part of the pipework, but not even a master communicator can convince most households to switch while electricity costs roughly four times as much as gas.
Households need time, information and confidence to make a big decision like getting a heat pump. What installers can do is help households make a plan, supporting them to get their home heat pump ready, even if they're not ready to install today.
- Heating Engineer, Buckinghamshire
What this means for industry
Heating installers are one of the most underused levers we have in the move to clean heat. Supported properly with peer community and communication tools they help shape that are realistic and adaptable, trained installers can become genuine ambassadors for the technology, not obstacles to it.
Solutions need to meet installers where they already are via trade counters, installer influencers and existing training to make positive heat pump conversations easy and normal.
"I do think that we do need to push to engineers more than consumers, because we are the ones that can keep chomping away at the bit." — Heating Engineer, Buckinghamshire
Want to learn more?
Check out the research to see what support installers want and recommendations for government and industry to help create more heat pump ambassadors. Get in touch to discuss the findings or to explore what it could mean for your work.
With thanks to The MCS Foundation for funding this project.
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