Visitor experiences
Visitors generally get a lot out of their visits: all but one visitor agreed that visiting a heat pump was a worthwhile experience.
“He and his wife were very generous hosts. It was nice to be able to look at the house, see the radiators and all the parts of the solution, and everybody left with a really clear idea of what they had to do, and how a heat pump works.”
Dan, visited a heat pump in Bedfordshire
Visitors also state that they are likely to promote the service further: on a scale from 0-10, more than 90% of visitors answer 8, 9, or 10 on how likely they were to recommend the service to a friend or colleague. Over 60% of visitors tell us that they have already talked about their visit to at least two other non-visitors.
Figure 8
Image Description
A horizontal stacked bar chart titled "Visitors were satisfied with their visits," displaying responses to four statements about their heat pump visit experience. The response options are "Agree strongly," "Agree," "Neither Agree nor Disagree," "Disagree," and "Disagree strongly." The results are as follows:
- "Visiting a heat pump was a worthwhile experience" – 81% strongly agree, 18% agree, 1% neither agree nor disagree.
- "I feel more informed about what it is like to live with a heat pump" – 72% strongly agree, 27% agree, 1% neither agree nor disagree.
- "I feel more informed about the process of choosing and installing a heat pump" – 46% strongly agree, 42% agree, 6% neither agree nor disagree, 6% disagree.
- "Visiting a heat pump has given me more confidence to explore my home heating options" – 61% strongly agree, 31% agree, 8% neither agree nor disagree.
The chart is based on data from 61 respondents who completed both pre- and post-visit surveys between February 28 and October 13, 2024.
Visitors were significantly more positive about the prospect of living with a heat pump after a visit
To evaluate the immediate impact of visiting a heat pump, we ask visitors about their attitudes, knowledge, and confidence in heat pumps before and after their visit. A total of 61 visitors provided both pre- and post-surveys, but our analysis suggested that these people did not differ significantly from those who only filled out the pre-visit survey [2]. As such, the results presented are broadly representative of the visitors discussed above.
Overall, visits make a clear difference to people: there are significant improvements on all measures of attitudes, knowledge, and confidence. Of particular note is the increase in visitors agreeing that they could imagine what it would be like to have a heat pump in their home (21% agree before the visit, 79% agree after the visit).
Figure 9
Image Description
A horizontal bar chart titled "Visits make a clear difference" displays the share of respondents who agree or strongly agree with specific statements before and after visiting a heat pump installation.
The chart includes the following statements with percentages of agreement before (blue) and after (green) the visit:
- "I know what steps I would need to take to install a heat pump in my own home" – Before: 39%, After: 80%
- "I can imagine what it would be like to have a heat pump in my home" – Before: 21%, After: 79%
- "I understand how a heat pump works" – Before: 46%, After: 77%
- "My next heating system will use a heat pump as the main heat source" – Before: 61%, After: 71%
- "I have a clear understanding of the likely installation costs of a heat pump" – Before: 36%, After: 67%
- "I am confident that a heat pump would be an effective choice for my home" – Before: 30%, After: 62%
- "I have a clear understanding of the likely running costs of a heat pump" – Before: 10%, After: 49%
The chart is based on data from 61 respondents who filled out both pre- and post-visit surveys between February 28 and October 13, 2024.
The statement ‘My next heating system will use a heat pump as the main heat source’ shows only a small and statistically non-significant improvement. Looking closer at those responses, we find that most visitors come into a visit believing that they would get a heat pump, but that a visit seems to polarise opinions. A full 93% of all respondents of the pre-visit survey rate their likelihood of getting a heat pump between three and five, with 26% rating it a five, or “very likely”. After the visit, the total share of “very likely” went up to 38%, but many visitors (31%) rate their likelihood as one or more steps lower on the scale.
It thus seems like a visit helps people get a better sense of both the opportunities and challenges of installing and living with a heat pump, and to reach a decision, positive or negative. Helping people reach an informed decision quicker is a good thing, as it saves customers from spending money on surveys that ultimately do not progress to installation and saves installers from carrying out these non-productive surveys.
“One thing that worked was you could feel it in his house, a much gentler heat – you’re used to the top of the room feeling warmer than the bottom, but not there. I kind of understood how a heat pump is different from a boiler before I visited – how it moves with the outside temperature, how it heats slower and gentler and stays on - but after visiting I really understood it.”
Dan, visited a heat pump in Bedfordshire.
Visiting a heat pump encourages people to proceed with the installation
In interviews, many visitors tell us that the visit to a heat pump helps them make the final decision to go ahead with the installation. In many cases, it also encourages them to use the same installer as the host did.
“For me, it was the clincher in the decision-making process... If I hadn’t spent time with [the host], I think I would have spent more time doing research and got more quotes. But having seen a house that was similar to mine, and hearing about his experience, I felt comfortable and ready.”
Dan, visited a heat pump in Bedfordshire
"We used the Nesta website by finding a link to it within our chosen installer's information on their own website. It was very helpful in helping us locate another install, similar to ours. We were able to visit that person and that was crucial in helping us with our final decision to move ahead with our own install as it allayed our initial fears about the noise levels from the outdoor unit. Without the Nesta service, this would have been impossible for us to do."
A visitor in North Yorkshire
“Overall [the visit] confirmed I ought to do it. And it reassured my wife as well. I told [the host] as I left that I’d made up my mind and were getting one. It moved me from doing more research to actually going ahead. I asked [the host] who had done the installation and he told me that he went with an installer called Sun God Solar, based in Ramsgate near us. I went with them for the installation and I am more than happy about their work.”
Lawrence, visited a heat pump in Kent
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[2] We looked at whether the people in the linked sample were different to the pre-visit sample and found no evidence that they differed significantly by gender, age or ethnicity, by tenure type, type or age of property, or by the heat pump journey questions discussed below. We tested these using chi-square tests of association.
