More than 1,200 people have registered their homes on Nesta’s Visit a Heat Pump scheme, opening their doors and welcoming heat pump-curious visitors inside their homes. The milestone comes as the scheme celebrates two years since it launched in April 2024.

Transitioning from gas boilers to low-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps will be essential for the UK to reach its decarbonisation goals. But with only around 260,000 existing heat pumps in UK homes, many people have never seen one in real life, making it harder to understand how they could work in their own homes.

The online platform connects heat pump owners with those interested in this low-carbon tech. The scheme has connected nearly 2,500 people across more than 1,500 bookings with heat pump owners in their area to see them working in a home like theirs before they install one. A 2025 survey of 154 visitors of the service found that more than half (55%) went on to install a heat pump after a visit, while a further 18% reported that they intended to install a heat pump and took steps towards doing so after visiting one.

Hosts registered with Visit a Heat Pump live in a range of different houses, from larger, older homes (including, in one case, a converted dairy farmhouse) and smaller city flats. More modern homes (post-2003) make up almost 1 in 4 of the houses (25%), followed by houses that are classed as ‘pre-1920’ on the system (18%) and 1965-1982 houses (17%). Homes built between 1920-1944 make up 1 in 10 (11%).

Hosts and visitors have spoken about the different reasons they have signed up to the scheme:

• Alex, an ‘eco landlord’ is reaping the benefits of the solar and heat pump in his student home that he rents out. He thinks that more student landlords should make the switch, especially as it removes a common tension point between students and landlords and ‘fair usage of bills’.
• Amy, who was previously using oil to heat her home, converted her 17th century cottage to heat pump technology to make it more sustainable and is happy with her house temperature and the bills. She believes that behavioural change can help people make a decision about the tech, especially if people see it ‘working in a home and for a family like theirs.’

The scheme was running as a pilot in 2022 before it officially launched in April 2024. Houses in London have seen the most visits from the heat-pump curious (247 visits in total), followed by Edinburgh (39 visits) and Bristol (33 visits). In 2025 when the scheme was running for a full year, January (16%), February (14%), March (22%) and April (11%) were all the busiest months for bookings while December (3%) November (4%), September (4%) and June (4%) saw the fewest bookings of the year

Katy King, director of Nesta’s sustainable futures mission said: “It’s great to see how many people up and down the country are making use of this scheme. If all visitors of Nesta’s Visit a Heat Pump scheme went on to install a heat pump, annually we could prevent around 4,712 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere in the first place. That’s the equivalent of avoiding the use of around 245 million single-use plastic bags. Anyone that is on the fence about installing a heat pump can use our free website to access our network of incredible hosts across the UK, see the tech in action and hear from real users how a heat pump works for them. These devices are not only good for the environment, but they can also lead to a cash saving on energy bills with the right tariff.”

Eleanor from London has received the highest number of bookings than any other member on the platform. She said, “It’s been a great experience hosting people who want to find out more about living with a heat pump before they take the plunge. We’ve enjoyed being able to show them how well it’s worked for us and learn from them about their experiences of improving the efficiency of their homes.”

Notes to editors:

1. Data was taken from visitors and hosts on Nesta’s Visit a Heat Pump Scheme.
2. For more information on the analysis or to speak to one of the experts involved, please contact Bryony Ravate, Media Officer on 07576838085 or [email protected]. Spokespeople are available for broadcast interviews.

About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation that designs, tests and scales solutions for the biggest challenges of our time.

Driven by a vision to improve the lives of millions of people, our focus up to 2030 is on three missions: breaking the link between family background and life chances, halving obesity and cutting household carbon emissions.

We work with partners to develop high-potential solutions and test them as they evolve, drawing on expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, data science, behavioural science and design.

Once confident in the effectiveness of a solution, we take it to scale. We create national policy proposals, develop consumer-facing products and services, build and spin out commercial ventures and harness the power of the arts.

We work with two specialised units: BIT applies a deep understanding of human behaviour to help clients achieve their goals. Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society. Find out more at nesta.org.uk