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What is a heat pump and how can I get one? Questions like this might be floating around right now but the Heat Pump Association has faith that they will one day be a thing of the past; not because people are no longer curious, but because the answers will eventually be common knowledge. Chair of the Heat Pump Association, Phil Hurley, shares some insight on where we go from here
hat we need to ask is how do we bridge the gap and inspire the sharp
learning curve
needed to bring customers up to speed when it comes to low carbon heat?
Needless to say, it won’t be an easy task following decades of dependence on fossil fuel boilers. But it’s a challenge that we can’t afford to let slide if we want to tackle the 15% of carbon emissions that come from household heating. And tackle them we must.
The Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy has already laid out dates for fossil fuel heating systems to be phased out and committed to the deployment of 600,000 heat pumps per year (at a minimum) by 2028, but the hard work must extend well beyond ambitious targets. Perhaps most importantly, supportive policy frameworks – such as those seen within the Strategy – must be communicated well enough to bring everybody on board. The reality is that policies to roll out low carbon heat will only work if those they are designed to benefit understand their purpose, regardless of the technology in question. Take the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for example. It’s fantastic news for homeowners and industry that the Government will be providing vouchers of £5,000 for air source heat pumps (or £6,000 for ground source) to homeowners. However, the success of such a scheme relies on people understanding why the vouchers are worth applying for in the first place. If they don’t know what a heat pump is or how it can benefit from them, there remains little motivation to go through the application process. Let’s not forget people tend to ignore their heating system until there is a problem. That’s not to say that I think demand for the scheme will fall short. The demonstrated interest in heat pumps through the Green Homes Grant scheme has given us
RENEWABLES Heat Pumps: The Future of Heating
every reason to believe that the scheme will see an influx of applications come April 2022. But we must make sure that the education is out there for everyone so that it continues well into the future without leaving anyone behind.
As Chair of the HPA, I am incredibly proud of the progress made by industry this year to prepare for the mass uptake of heat pumps. Wholeheartedly committed to supporting government in the most constructive way possible, the HPA has worked hard to reshape the training route for heating installers so that those already installing fossil fuel systems can gain the skills they need to install low temperature heating systems including heat pumps without having to jump through unnecessary hoops and hurdles. Our intention has always been to make upskilling as easy and appealing as possible whilst ensuring quality. And
that’s exactly what we’ve now got. It goes without saying that installers are key to the low carbon transition. We could have all the policy support and consumer demand in the world for heat pumps but we would still hit a roadblock without a strong enough workforce to install them. But the workforce isn’t just invaluable because of their technical skills; installers are also the face of the heating industry. They’re the voice households turn to for answers. However, a customer looking to find out more about heat pumps could be greeted by two different responses depending on the installer they’re engaging with, and there is a risk they could even be talked out of it by those without the right knowledge or skillset. But what we must remember is that the skillset is there. Anyone able to install a traditional gas boiler already understands the fundamentals of
heating. It’s just a case of adding to their knowledge so that they can install – and recommend – heat pumps too.
As we approach the end of the year and welcome a fresh start, I am hopeful that the UK’s army of installers is as excited about the future as we are. The transition to low carbon heating is something that we cannot avoid if we’re going to meet Net Zero by 2050, and heat pumps have been confirmed by government as a solution. Upskilling to rollout the technology is therefore a no regrets option that will set them up for a bright and successful future. With collaborative support from government and industry, we can turn questions like ‘what is a heat pump’ into ‘what support is available for me to install a heat pump’ – whilst ensuring that installers have the right knowledge to provide the right guidance and expertise.
‘
Anyone able to
install a traditional gas boiler already understands the fundamentals of heating. It’s just a case of adding to their knowledge so that they can install – and recommend – heat pumps too.
’ 22 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2022 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
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