SUSTAINABILITY
TURNING UP THE HEAT
Baxi says more needs to be done to educate consumers about the good heat pumps can do.
H
eat pumps have been a hot topic for some time now, it is clearly the Government’s preferred choice when it comes to heating homes. But the on-
going discussions around the level of support consumers and manufacturers should get is one that will remain on-going – until at least April 2025, to be precise.
Baxi’s strategic account manager, Corey Gooding, explains that Government funding for heat pumps has been interest grow and this has then had a knock-on effect, with the industry answering this demand. “Government funding for heat pumps has seen interest grow and the industry accelerate as a result,” says Gooding. “For the private residential sector, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) offers a grant of £7,500 towards the installation cost of a heat pump. This has seen strong uptake, with over 35,000 applications made and 25,000 grants issued by the end of February this year.
“Ideally, we would see these grants supported by a push to make energy tariffs for electrified heating a more attractive prospect for homeowners too.”
Historically, confidence has been a barrier, and negative news of a small number of poorly installed systems has skewed understanding of the benefits heat pumps can provide. Gooding says that the industry and government need to do better by providing more education to help the government understand the benefits that a modern, well- designed, carefully commissioned heat pump system can bring to their homes. For the public sector, funding such as the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, is providing billions of pounds to decarbonise homes and public sector buildings around the UK As with the private residential sector, having
residents on side and the skilled workforce to deliver high quality installations will be key to successfully decarbonising social homes through the use of heat pumps.
“To support merchants and their customer base of installers through the transition to low carbon technologies, Baxi is continuing its commitment to providing a full range of low carbon solutions and support,” says Gooding. “We have a complete heat pump support package, which ranges from accredited training to an assisted commissioning service and enhanced warranty. By providing an end-to- end heat pump proposition, we are hoping to encourage more installers to add heat pumps to their roster of services.”
Merchants need to engage with
manufacturers and work with them to address the skills gap that exists within their customer base.
Gooding adds: “Though we are making great strides in training more heat pump installers than ever before to meet the growing demand, the UK is still short of the estimated 62,000 qualified heat pump engineers needed by 2035 to reach government installation targets. “Empowering current heating engineers to add the heat pump string to their bow will need incentives for them to take time out from their current paid work to earn the required qualifications.”
June 2024 A supplement to builders merchants journal
Baxi has introduced its BPEC accredited ASHP course, which enables installers to be Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certified, helping to bridge to skill gap. “Merchants can work with us to support their customers through these courses so they are suitably equipped to deliver high quality installation work,” explains Gooding. “After training, collaborating with a manufacturer like Baxi will ensure these customers not only have confidence in the product they install, but presales support with designing of a system and commissioning and servicing support after the installation.”
Hybrid heat pumps are an overlooked technology in the UK at present. With a more supportive policy environment Baxi believes that hybrids are the key to rapid decarbonisation and could form a critical component of Government’s ambition to install 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028.
Gooding says: “As proven in EU member states, hybrids can be readily applied in existing buildings, even those that are “hard to treat”, with relatively low disruption.
“Whilst offering attractive carbon savings and performance immediately, hybrids are an enabler for the eventual uptake of full heat pump systems in the future, offering households a stepwise approach to refurbishment over time.”. n
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