The visitors and their expectations
As of 14 October 2024, people across the UK had made a total of 412 bookings to Visit a Heat Pump events. Most people book visits in groups of two or more: according to qualitative data and user surveys, most of these visits took place with spouses or family, but some visitors have also told us that they’ve brought friends or colleagues along. In total, 661 places have been booked [1].
“I visited this really nice, welcoming chap named Jonathan. It was about a twenty-mile trip, but it was toward the coast. So me and my wife went, it made for a good reason to visit the beach as well, to combine it with a bit of pleasure.”
Lawrence, visited a heat pump in Kent
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bar chart titled 'Many visitors booked places for multiple people,' showing the number of bookings on 'Visit a Heat Pump' by the number of places per booking. The chart has four categories: Single booking with 195 bookings, bookings with two people with 191 bookings, bookings with three people with 16 bookings, and bookings with four people with 9 bookings. Source at the bottom reads: 'Visit a Heat Pump • As of October 14, 2024. Interested visitors make a booking, and each booking can contain multiple booked places (if they are, for example, visiting in a group of four).'
Before launching the platform, we hypothesised that visiting a heat pump would make people more likely to go ahead with a heat pump installation. To find out if this was the case, we sent visitors two short surveys: one in the days leading up to an event they had registered to attend, and one in the days after an event had taken place.
The survey data presented here were collected between 28 February 2024 (when we ran a short two-week trial before the nationwide launch) and 13 October 2024. A total of 144 people completed the survey before visiting, 72 after visiting, and 61 of these completed both the pre-and-post survey.
Among those who answered the pre-visit survey 69% are male. They are more likely to be older (58% were 55 years or older) and white (78%). Given that many people visit with members of their family, and that only the person making the booking answers the survey, the gender split is likely more even in the overall group of visitors.
How did people find out about the service?
When asked how they found out about Visit a Heat Pump, most visitors tell us that it was through news articles. Free text responses generally mention installer referrals as well as climate action groups.
“I found Visit a Heat Pump through Google, and as luck would have it, I found someone who had a house I could immediately compare to - same size house, same type. And as I was heading to pick up my wife at Luton Airport, it was on the way, and I booked onto an event. It was the catalyst toward me getting one.”
Dan, visited a heat pump in Bedfordshire
Figure 6
Figure 6
Bar chart titled 'Visitors found Visit a Heat Pump through a breadth of channels,' showing survey responses to the question 'How did you find out about Visit a Heat Pump?' The chart includes nine categories: News article (print or online) with 31 responses, Octopus Energy with 23 responses, Nesta with 19 responses, Specific online search with 18 responses, Social media post with 15 responses, Word of mouth recommendation with 7 responses, Digital advertisement with 7 responses, EDF with 1 response, and Other - Write In with 23 responses. Source at the bottom reads: 'Visit a Heat Pump • Based on survey data collected between 28 February 2024 and 13 October 2024. Based on 144 pre-survey responses.'
Most visitors were already considering installing a heat pump and want to learn what it was like to live with one
Before visitors attend an event, we ask them some questions about their motivation and expectations for visiting a heat pump. Most people (83%) tell us they were visiting a heat pump because they plan to retrofit their existing home, with the remainder primarily seeking to install one in a self-build or conversion project (10%).
“I knew our house was probably the right age - built in 2011 - and the house was already warm, almost too warm. The builder hadn’t penny-pinched, and we have quite large radiators. So I did the maths, and thought ‘this might work’. What put me off was the horror stories about heat pumps I’d seen in the media.”
Dan, visited a heat pump in Bedfordshire
Aside from the general experience of living with a heat pump, visitors want to find out more about noise, changes to the home, and cost.
Figure 7
Figure 7
A horizontal bar chart titled "Visitors wanted to learn things a host is uniquely well placed to answer." It displays responses to the question, "What are you hoping to find out by visiting a heat pump?" with multiple answers allowed. The percentages of respondents interested in each topic are:
- Experience of living with a heat pump: 88%
- Noise a heat pump makes: 80%
- Changes required to the home: 72%
- Cost to run a heat pump: 72%
- Space a heat pump needs: 65%
- Ease of control: 65%
- Installation process: 60%
- Installation cost: 47%
- Appearance of a heat pump: 38%
- How a heat pump works: 33%
- Decommissioning current heating system: 21%
- Other: 6%
The chart is based on 144 pre-survey responses, with data collected from February 28 to October 13, 2024.
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[1] To reduce burden on hosts, we do not ask hosts to check-in or otherwise verify that visits take place. According to qualitative data, no-shows are rare, and so most bookings likely represent actual visits.
