In partnership with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF), we are giving experienced plumbing and heating professionals, who have just undertaken heat pump training, a heat pump to install in their own home. Interviews with heat pump installers and industry experts reveal a gap between heat pump training and the ability of heating engineers to confidently incorporate heat pump installation into their commercial offer to householders. We want to understand whether doing their first heat pump installation in their own home means they have a more successful journey to offering heat pump installations in their business and career.

Our digital report is designed to make it easy to find the information you need. Start by learning what we are doing and why to understand the project’s purpose. Check where we are in the project for the latest updates. See who is taking part to learn about the participants. Find out why installers joined and what their training is like. Finally, see what’s coming next as the project moves forward.

Our key finding

This interim report confirms that there is a cohort of installers who are eager to start their heat pump journey in their own home and the Start at home scheme is feasible to implement. While these preliminary insights provide valuable early indications, the report does not explore whether the Start at home project has successfully helped participants to offer heat pumps as part of their plumbing and heating offer to customers. This will be explored in the final June 2025 report.