Heat pump trials help customers navigate adoption

Heat pumps are an efficient, low carbon heating solution and – as set out in the Government’s Warm Homes Plan – widespread up-take is seen as a vital step towards decarbonising home heating in the UK.

While government incentives and support are encouraging some homeowners to upgrade, challenges remain in terms of cost, awareness and consumer confidence in the technology.

The FC Heat project at NeRV will help householders, manufacturers and policymakers to navigate the challenge of retrofitting heat pumps to existing properties by providing trusted, independent advice.

Heat pumps of different configurations – traditional air source, air-to-air and hybrid – from manufacturers Daikin, Mitsubishi UK, Vaillant and Worcester Bosch have been installed in our test homes on Futures Close (FC).

Futures Close is a unique street of research properties that provide a real-world test environment for low carbon technologies. The street comprises properties that are representative of many neighbourhoods around the country: Edwardian terraces, an inter-war semi-detached, a post-war bungalow, 1970s flats and a 1990s detached property.

Heat pumps are running in eight of the test homes, which are fitted with sensors capturing real-time performance data.

Tests are now underway to investigate:

• Hybrid heat pump vs standard heat pump deployment.
• The implications for heat pump performance when radiators are sized correctly vs incorrectly.
• Performance of heat pumps when used hard and fast vs low and slow.
• The impact of microbore piping on domestic heat pump performance.

A team from the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University will analyse the findings and produce the final research report.

Fair and sustainable decarbonisation

Lewis Garvey, Net Zero Planning & Technologies Manager at project partner, Wales & West Utilities, said: “We’re committed to supporting a just and pragmatic pathway to net zero – this means offering customers choice when it comes to decarbonising their homes and businesses. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution and – with around 85% of homes already connected to the gas network – it’s important to consider a range of low carbon technologies.

“This project is a unique opportunity to contribute to this journey, understanding how future low carbon heating technology will impact customers and supply chains, including heat pumps, hybrids and other such systems – drawing on the potential for green gases working alongside heat pumps as part of the solution.”

Informing customer decision-making

Adam Hardy, Senior Research Fellow at the LSI at LBU, adds: “Uptake of heat pumps by UK households has been slow, despite the urgent need to decarbonise heat. There are several reasons for this, including a lack of trust in new technologies.  This project will provide the public with an evidence-based, independent assessment of heat pump performance under a wide range of conditions, so that people are better informed when deciding if a heat pump is right for them.

“We are very lucky to have Futures Close on our doorstep to facilitate this research. It is one of the best research facilities in the world to test these sorts of products, and being able to test simultaneously in eight properties of differing archetypes is a perfect scenario for the measurements we are gathering.”

Contractor, John N Dunn Group, has installed the heat pumps on site and the team from Leeds Beckett University are currently working to finalise a framework for the first-phase performance trials.

The Energy Innovation Centre is also partnering in the project, which is funded through the Network Innovation Allowance and due to complete in August 2027.