Host experiences and motivations
The platform now has 425 hosts. Hosts can actively list events or they can wait to receive a request for a visit. To date, most hosts have had fewer than six places booked across their events. However, three hosts have had more than 20 places booked for their events.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bar chart titled 'Most hosts have had fewer than six places booked across their events,' showing the number of hosts on 'Visit a Heat Pump' by the number of booked places in host-scheduled events. The chart has four categories: 1-5 booked places with 61 hosts, 6-10 booked places with 28 hosts, 11-20 booked places with 14 hosts, and more than 20 booked places with 3 hosts. Source at the bottom reads: 'Visit a Heat Pump • As of October 14, 2024. Each visitor makes a booking, and each booking can contain multiple booked places (if they are, for example, visiting in a group of four).'
In interviews with prospective hosts, we find that a common worry is that they will receive too many visitors. Installers might similarly feel uncomfortable about asking previous customers to sign up as hosts, as they do not want to inconvenience them.
To reassure hosts, we often clarify that hosts themselves decide how often and when they are open to receive visitors, and need to actively create events for visitors to book. While some hosts choose to make themselves available often, add a great deal of detail to their listing, and market themselves in local community groups, others create simple profiles and keep visits sparse and low-effort. Hosts are thus largely in control of how many visits they receive, although locations in more densely populated areas tend to receive more bookings.
“My host had worked for years in this field at University College London - it was a geek’s paradise. Him being an academic, he’d prepared a presentation of the whole journey, showed all the components of the solution, and sent it to us afterwards. It was about 90 minutes all in all.”
Dan, visited a heat pump in Bedfordshire
Hosts join the platform to make a difference
Based on interviews and qualitative research, we find that many hosts are passionate about the environment, technology, and/or want to show that owning a heat pump is easier and more comfortable than what some media narratives might suggest. In a Virtual tour and homeowner Q&A Nesta conducted on 8th October 2024, heat pump owner and Visit a Heat Pump host Lucy Halden told us:
“I am motivated by the fact that I have something to offer. I have my experience to offer, and therefore I feel like I really ought to share it. Ultimately, the fact that I have made this shift in my home is great, but I need everyone else to do it too. I want everyone on my street to run their home with a heat pump, or some form of non-fossil-fuel-based heating. The answer for me isn’t just in my house.”
In a separate interview, Jonathan, a host based in Kent, told us that he wanted people to understand that ‘normal’ houses can have heat pumps too:
“People seem to have an understanding that it has to be this almost passive house, with massive radiators. But we’ve got double-glazing, normal radiators, some insulation, it’s heated in a very normal way. I want people to understand that you can have a house heated in a very normal way. And that understanding, combined with my natural extrovert tendencies, made me feel like I could help people who were curious but sceptical.”
Hosts enjoy the social aspect of hosting
Lucy Halden continued:
“I have to say I’ve really enjoyed that simple human interaction with my visitors so far. Some people have popped around and had coffee and a chat. It’s about sharing those positive stories, a very affirmative voluntary contribution.”
Jonathan agreed:
“Having visitors led to really straightforward and charming interactions. One group brought chocolates because they felt like they should bring something. And by the nature of it, you’re going to get people who want to be there, everyone was friendly and warm and interested. So with visitors, I have a cup of tea and a chat and I show them the system and talk a bit about it. I try to answer questions as simply and helpfully and fully as I can.”
Hosts can provide trusted testimonials
Jonathan also found that his lived experience helped him be more trustworthy in the eyes of his visitors:
“Ultimately, if someone is selling a product, they are fundamentally untrustworthy – they can’t tell you the full truth about that product. So it’s important to talk to someone who can actually give you lived experience with as little bias as possible. And both groups did come in with a bit of a wink and a bit of ‘how is it really’ to live with a heat pump. And the answer is ‘fine’, in an undramatic, almost anticlimactic way. Now that we’ve sorted it out, I don’t really interact with it at all. I don’t think about thermostats and the heating. I think that’s an important takeaway for people: after some initial involved setup, once done, you don’t really interact with it.”
Wider impact through messages
The Visit a Heat Pump service also has a messaging function. People who are interested in heat pumps can use this to send messages directly to hosts, and 360 messages have been sent since the platform was launched. Reviewing the messages shows that people primarily use the function to find a time to visit, to ask questions or to schedule phone calls with hosts who are in a different part of the country, but have a similar property. Some people are also using the platform to ask about heat pump model performance or installer competence, or to ask hosts to participate in research on heat pump use or in local events about electrification or refurbishment. In these ways, messages help people move forward with home decarbonisation, regardless of whether a visit takes place. Visit a Heat Pump is thereby acts as a valuable social network, sharing useful market information and connecting people to improve purchasing decisions.
