Heat pumps are relatively rare in residential properties in the UK – there are only around 250k currently. This means that the vast majority of people will never (knowingly) have seen a home with a heat pump. Our work on heat pump customer journeys shows that the process of possibly acquiring a heat pump is long and arduous with many potential drop-off points.

Our research shows that people who are thinking about getting a heat pump have sought advice and information from their peers and that heat pump owners are often willing to share their experiences with others.

We have rapidly tested the concept of a wider network of heat pump show homes and found that both the demand for this service and the supply of similar houses within reasonable distances of potential customers is achievable to make this work at scale. Our early-stage testing raised a number of key uncertainties around what the specific needs of target audiences are, what the service model is that could best meet these needs, what other stakeholders might benefit from the service and whether the focus of the content needs to broaden from heat pumps to a wider view of home energy use and retrofit.

If successful, our ambition in the long term would be the creation of a service that operates as a self-sustaining network, with operations in all UK nations showing homes that are relevant and accessible to the majority of the population. As a result we would expect to see increased uptake of heat pumps in all types of property, not just those where they are currently most common.

An interdisciplinary team with members from Nesta’s sustainable future mission, as well as from our design, data analytics and evidence and experimentation practices, will develop a live pilot version of the service, which will require us to find effective solutions to the challenges, work alongside users and stakeholders to develop a realistic service, and evaluate it with real users.

Between June and September we will:

• pilot an end-to-end (ie, what happens before and after) show home service that supports 25-50 visitors to visit a heat pump in a home
• develop solutions for the service based on real-world feedback and testing with real users
• understand the needs of and prioritise specific target users for the service
• design collaboratively with installers, manufacturers and local authorities to ensure the service has multiple benefits
• connect with existing networks in a number of UK locations and build relationships with partners (lessons from these services will help us explore whether Nesta should join forces with them)
• learn from existing and previous show home schemes to understand the challenges and opportunities of these kinds of projects and explore the role Nesta could play by collaborating with them
• develop a clear long-term vision for the service
• evaluate the service, based on before-and-after surveys with pilot users