Older and affluent individuals who own their large properties. Environmentally conscious with high levels of awareness and heat pump consideration.

By the numbers

Comprising around 1.4 million households, this segment tends to be older families (with 37% of heads of household aged 46-55) who own larger properties, with three or four bedrooms, valued well above the national average. This segment is prominent in Greater London, the home counties, and the east of England. Over half (52%) of this group are in the top 20% in terms of household income.

In this segment, 40% are currently saving for retirement, with 33% putting money aside for an emergency fund. As high internet users, this segment consumes their news online and gets it from newspapers, podcasts and streamed content through Sky and BBC.

They are environmentally aware and don’t usually mind paying extra for green products. They have high levels of awareness when it comes to heat pumps, and 51% would consider a heat pump for their next heating system in the next five years. While one in four (27%) said a heat pump would be affordable, overall, this segment’s biggest barrier to getting one is its installation costs (29%), followed by a lack of conviction that the tech would be good enough to heat their home (13%). The biggest benefit of a heat pump for this group would be its environmentally friendly credentials when compared to traditional heating systems (20%), followed by lower household bills (17%).

This segment has the fewest barriers to heat pump uptake. The majority own their own home. One in ten already have solar panels, and one in four are already using an induction hob instead of gas for cooking. The majority have outdoor space for a heat pump unit, and over a third say they have space for a hot water tank.

Deep dive interview insights

Priorities for current heating system

A reliable, efficient heating system that makes their money go further is a priority for this segment, who tend to have more disposable income than others, and report having a strong emotional attachment to having a warm home.

Benefits of moving to electric

In general, this segment views switching to electric as an appealing route to becoming more self-sufficient, with the added benefit of it being environmentally friendly and a way for them to reduce their carbon footprint. This segment ranks highly for strong consideration to install a heat pump in future and this was reflected in the interviews. Additionally, the ability to cool their homes in summer was an added motivation.

Approaches to preparatory upgrades

While this segment is generally positive about making upgrades to their home to prepare for a heat pump, having started doing 'green upgrades', there is still an element of caution stemming from possible disruption, and therefore the preference to do it all in one go, and the upfront cost. Also, this segment in particular reports that possible future house moves put them off doing the work, given that the payback period may not be short enough.

Sources of information

This segment is positive about trusting government advice – seeing it as an unbiased authority. Their online sources include search engines, AI and independent sites such as Which? They regularly turn to video and forum-based advice, with respondents referencing YouTube and Reddit. However, this group reports that they avoid social media as a source of information and advice. They speak to professionals when they have done their own research.

Attitudes towards heat pumps

Eco high-earning Gen X-ers’ attitude towards switching to a heat pump is favourable, as they see it as a way to save money and will look into it when the time comes to change their current heating. Their main barriers to switching are the anticipated disruption, the need for financial help for the installation and an underlying apprehension around the technology.

Potential message themes for this audience

This segment maps against established liberals and progressive activists on the Britain Talks Climate groupings of the population. Common traits that map over include high environmental consciousness, an economic, forward-looking mindset, trust in science and experts and support of low-carbon technologies.

Our research to date suggests the message themes worth testing for this group tap into themes around sensible, future-proof investment, a logical next step and a proven technology that is part of a wider transition. Messages should avoid glossing over performance or disruption concerns and framing heat pumps as premium or elite. While there is more to do to find out ‘what works’ for each segment, initial findings from testing we ran on Meta with this audience group, with a few message variations, saw the messages that included the £7,500 grant and the focus on staying warm gain slightly more engagement than those without. This ties into this segment’s concerns on upfront costs, payback period and the value they place on a warm and comfortable home.