06 April 2023
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It is an up to £60 million programme funded by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero as part of their Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) looking to accelerate the domestic uptake of heat pumps in the UK. It supports 36 innovative projects.
The programme is divided into three streams of activity:
1) High density deployment projects: supporting the installation of heat pumps at scale in
selected local areas, over a short period of time. The projects will be testing new methodologies to improve the customer journey and reduce the costs to install and operate heat pumps.
2) Optimised solutions development projects: supporting the development of new tools, technologies and business models to:
a. Reduce the lifetime costs of heat pumps
b. Minimise home disruption
c. Create new business models to finance heat pump installations and maintenance
d. Improve the customer journey
e. Develop a smart and flexible home energy system
3) Trial support and learning: fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing across the supported projects, undertaking evaluation activities, and disseminating learnings and best practice to the wider heat pump market and associated sectors.
How do heat pumps work?
A heat pump works like a fridge in reverse.
It uses electricity to transfer warmth from outdoors into the property.
Heat pumps are typically at least 3 times more efficient than a domestic natural gas boiler. They operate using electricity and will become even lower carbon as more electricity comes from renewables. They are more efficient than a fossil fuel boiler and provide more regular, lower temperature heating. However, they may need more indoor and outdoor space to install.
There are 3 main categories of heat pump a domestic user can install – air- source, ground-source and water-source. The choice depends on a number of factors including user needs, budget, and space available.
For further detail on how Heat Pumps work visit: www.heatpumpready.org.uk
