HEAT PUMPS
What do installers really need from heat pumps?
Geoff Turton, After Sales Technical Director at Qvantum UK, shares his perspective on what installers actually need from heat pump technology, from modularity and shared components to smarter energy storage and fl exibility and how these concepts can shape the future of decarbonised heating.
W Geoff Turton
"From the installer’s perspective, the real test of any new technology is how quickly you can get it working on site and how confi dent you feel leaving it with the customer."
henever I am on site with installers, one thing becomes clear: the success of the heat pump rollout in the UK will not just depend on effi ciency
fi gures on paper. It will depend on whether the technology is practical to install, simple to maintain and future-proofed for both customers and the energy system. The government’s ambitions are clear: we need to move households away from gas and oil. But we all know the barriers. The skills gap is real and training takes time: the Heat Pump Association’s Supply Chain Readiness Report (2025) highlights the crucial role of the installer workforce, showing that over 10,000 new installers a year will need to be trained to meet government targets. Training rates are rising, but keeping pace with this demand remains a key challenge for the sector. Capital costs are high, especially when compared with familiar fossil fuel boilers: the Climate Change Committee’s Progress Report (2023) highlighted aff ordability as a key barrier to consumer uptake. And then there is the bigger picture: the strain on the electricity grid as more homes electrify their heating. The National Grid ESO Future Energy Scenarios (2023) makes clear that fl exible, smart heating technologies will be vital in balancing supply and demand. From my experience supporting installers across the UK, I believe the way forward is not simply about making
heat pumps more effi cient. It is about making them more adaptable; for the installer, for the homeowner and for the energy system they connect into.
Thinking beyond the heat pump One technology that deserves more attention in this conversation is the exhaust air heat pump (EAHP). These systems recover heat from ventilated air inside the home, which not only improves effi ciency compared with drawing from cold outdoor air but also addresses indoor air quality. Data from the Nesta report on European heat pump uptake (2023) shows that across 17 European countries, there were around 50,000 exhaust air systems installed in 2021, far fewer than air-to-water heat pumps, but a recognised and growing segment of the market. In the UK, EAHPs are grouped into the “other” heat pump category in offi cial statistics (Heat Pump Association, 2025), which means we do not have clear visibility of their uptake. But the fact that this category remains small compared with mainstream air-to-water systems suggests EAHPs are still relatively overlooked in the UK. For installers, EAHPs can make life easier without an outdoor unit to site and a compact package that works well in dense urban housing where outdoor space is limited. Furthermore. there are fewer issues with noise or frost. For the
Whole house ventilation with the Qvantum QE exhaust air heat pump and QS energy recovery ventilation system. 26 November 2025 •
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