We know from actors in the industry that it can take some time before installers who have retrained to install heat pumps are frequently installing heat pumps – it can even take a long time until they've done their very first installation.

To address what we call the “first installs problem”, we propose to give newly trained installers that own or represent a small or micro business, or who are sole traders, an air-source heat pump to install in their own home. We want to understand if this leads to the installer completing retrofit heat pump installations on a regular basis and whether there is an increase in speed of certification, confidence in skills and technology and customer attraction.

We want the learning from this project to inform existing and new efforts to train an active and skilled workforce which will be ready to respond to the growing demand for heat pump installations.

This project will provide us with greater knowledge of how to support heating engineers as they enter the heat pump sector – an area where there is currently little insight. By investigating the role that an in-home first install can play in encouraging engineers to move into the sector, this pilot project will provide insights into the challenges that they face and how these can be overcome.

We aim to gather insights that will, for example, inform useful updates to the MCS certification scheme or improvements of heat pump training delivery. The project’s findings may also be of interest to manufacturers who may wish to support installers as they enter the heat pump sector or to local and regional authorities willing to reach their net-zero targets and attract industry development in the area.

If the UK is to meet current net zero goals, we need the low-carbon heating industry to grow. To achieve this growth, we need about 27,000 new heat pump installers by 2028. At Nesta, we believe that we can encourage the engineers who could be installing heat pumps to do it by making their first install easier to complete.

An extensive review of existing literature and discussions with stakeholders in the sector show that newly trained installers face several challenges as they leave training and look for their first few heat pump jobs. For example, they may find it difficult to attract a first customer and get MCS-certified with their successful first install, feel unsure that they have the required practical skills to do a good install or even still have doubts about the usefulness of the technology.

We prototyped and are testing an intervention that directly addresses these challenges – giving newly trained installers a heat pump to install at home. In doing their first installation at home, engineers will have a way to practise their skills in a non-stressful and well-known environment, gain confidence, get MCS certified with their successful first install and use their own heat pump to attract customers.

We will recruit around 20 heating engineers who have not installed heat pumps before they attend their heat pump training. After they complete the training, they will start designing their home installation and will then be offered a heat pump.

We will also have a control group of newly trained installers who do not receive a heat pump to install at home. This will help us learn about the common trajectories of heating engineers after they train for heat pump installations, which is currently not well known.

To measure the impact of the intervention, we will compare installers’ experiences across these two groups. We will measure different outcomes that relate to the installer’s journey into the sector through qualitative interviews and short surveys at different intervals (for example, every three months during one year).

We are currently looking for partners who will work closely with us and help us deliver the intervention (such as reaching out to installers or providing air-source heat pumps) and a steering group, who will hear about the project on a regular basis and advise on its trajectory (namely identifying which findings are most needed for the sector).

We are aiming to start recruiting participants in March and April 2024, after the end of the heating season. The participants will then be given time to attend training, develop their work and start thinking about their home installation. We plan to give the heat pumps to installers during the summer months. We will then conduct a first round of interviews in autumn 2024 and a second round in spring 2025 to learn about the participants’ experiences, after which we will conclude the project and disseminate findings.

If you are interested in becoming a partner or a member of the steering group, please contact Robin Parker.