Bristol Heat Pump Ready was part of the wider Government funded Heat Pump Ready programme, with plans to install at least 200 heat pumps, more than doubling the number of heat pumps in homes in the city. 

The project was administered by the government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DEZNZ) as part of the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. 

Following a Phase one feasibility stage, the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) team worked with Bristol City Council, Buro Happold, Sustainable Westbury on Trym and Bristol Energy Network, local partners across the city and an expert advisory group to develop an approach to put the right heat pump, in the right homes, for the right customers, by the right installers. 

This approach was designed to ensure consumer experience was prioritised, local installers were upskilled, and the electricity network would face minimal disruption. 

The project centred around the development of an integrated consumer journey in which interested local householders were identified and supported to explore their suitability and readiness for a heat pump through a number of key steps.  

Bristol Heat Pump Ready phase one

Following an initial phase that ran from May-October 2022 to develop the concept and test ideas (see the Phase one report here), the CSE team made strong connections with local community groups and held workshops to engage residents across Westbury on Trym in Bristol   

The CSE team prioritised engagement with homeowners to understand their motivations for upgrading their homes. Establishing first if they were interested in heat pumps, what information they needed and if they wanted one, what would it take to get one installed? 

This was a crucial part of the project to figure out what they want, rather than simply telling them what they need. 

Bristol Heat Pump Ready phase two  

Drawing on our decades of experience in working with communities on complex energy projects, CSE led the customer engagement element of the project, including both the initial engagement with householders and providing ongoing householder support throughout the heat pump journey process. This work involved a partnership with a local community energy group Sustainable Westbury on Trym and Bristol Energy Network and facilitated engagement with local residents. 

A vital part of the decarbonisation mix 

Domestic heat pumps have a critical role to play in achieving net zero and Bristol has set a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Heat pumps play an important role in Bristol’s One City Climate Strategy, which suggests that around 60% of all buildings will need to be heated by a heat pump to decarbonise the city (with the other 40% heated by district heating networks). 

In 2022, Bristol City Council, joined forces with other partners and applied to be part of the national programme. 

Bristol was one of four projects across the country to test new approaches for promoting widespread adoption of heat pumps at a local level. 

Bristol Heat Pump Ready was a collaborative approach and included: 

• The development of the comprehensive ‘Bristol Heat Pump Ready Offer’ for householders to simplify the process of choosing and installing a heat pump. This included a measured heat loss survey that allowed the engineer to accurately size the heat pump. 
• Expert support and advice for homeowners throughout to ensure people can make informed decisions. 
• The creation of a local supplier hub to vet and upskill heat pump installers to ensure consistency in the quality of installations in the city. 
• The identification of suitable areas for high density rollout of new technologies like heat pumps, in the city using cutting-edge digital twin technology to create virtual modelling. 

More financial support for homeowners 

Our work with homeowners confirmed that there isn’t enough funding available to people who are “able to pay” to install heat pumps on their property. We were not able to offer any financial incentive beyond the existing Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, which people already had access to if they wanted it. We found that people need more information, to be able to trust in the technology and more financial support. If the UK wants to speed up the installation of heat pumps, more needs to be done to make more support available. 

CSE’s key recommendations  

The CSE team has gained valuable insights from this project. Here are our key recommendations for future similar project design:

Technology adoption projects should be built over longer-term cycles  

• Recognise the time required by householders to build the understanding required to make an informed decision. Installers engaged through this project cited six-nine months customer journey for people who had contacted them on average to then have an install.  

• Build a timeline that capitalises on key decision points (i.e. when boilers need to be replaced in the local area).  

• Phase around these decision points and segments as per technology adoption theory. For example, by designing an iterative programme of rollout that builds interest amongst one cohort and then uses their experiences to inspire and engage subsequent cohorts over a number of years.  

Utilise short, intensive periods of engagement  

• Don’t drag out engagement, focus on short sprints with a range of methods and approaches designed to reach as many householders as possible.
• Avoid communications fatigue amongst the target cohort.  

Build and capitalise on the experience of other local people  

• In a place-based project, identify early adopters and people interested in the same thing as you.  

• Prioritise ensuring these have a positive experience of the process you are trying to champion.  

• Ensure their success is publicised through local networks to build interest amongst others, in a way that is appropriate to the local population.  

• It is hard to say from this project if place-based solutions are successful or not as we have no marker of comparison with other area-based approaches.  

Walk before you can run and avoid too much complexity  

• Start from a householder perspective.  

• Focus on a pragmatic but simple approach and make sure everything is lined up before you engage householders.  

• Develop simple and appropriate messaging regarding your customer offer and the benefits to your audience. Examples are difficult to provide as our method focussed on providing independent and impartial advice whilst a different project may focus on different messaging. Householders shouldn’t be having to unpick complex messaging to work out what they are signing up for.  

Think carefully about the entry point  

• Avoid going in with the end product in mind (i.e. heat pumps in this case).  

• Understand and recognise the steps required to get someone there and build a programme that helps them grow at their own pace, not yours. Programmes designed with more flexible delivery timelines would help enable this.  

• Based on this programme, an approach to adapt to individual household timelines and requirements does not feel likely to work in a rollout based on lv transformers but may work in a larger area. 

DESNZ has commissioned IPSOS Mori to produce a full evaluation of Phase 2.