Motivations for installers taking part in the Start at home project
The findings from our baseline survey found that participants thought heat pumps are a good alternative to gas boilers for private homes in Scotland, as shown in figure 4 – which makes sense as participation in the Start at home project was voluntary. This survey was conducted prior to the training courses. However, some participants appear to have reservations: 31% of respondents indicated that they neither agree nor disagree, while 8% disagreed with the statement.
Figure 4: How much do you agree with the following statement: “Heat pumps are a good alternative to gas boilers for many private homes in Scotland”?
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Bar chart titled 'Figure 4: How much do you agree with the following statement: "Heat pumps are a good alternative to gas boilers for many private homes in Scotland"? The chart shows the percentage of respondents' agreement levels. The categories and their respective percentages are: Strongly agree (25.7%), Agree (34.3%), Neither agree nor disagree (31.4%), Disagree (5.7%), and Strongly disagree (2.9%).
This suggests that the Start at home participants were motivated to take part in the project because they could see a place for heat pumps in the Scottish domestic heating sector, which is illustrated by the quotes in this section. Yet, participants also expect that the entry into the heat pump sector might be slow and challenging, as shown in figure 5.
Figure 5: How much of your company’s work do you think will come from heat pump installations in the next 12 months?
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Bar chart titled 'Figure 5: How much of your company’s work do you think will come from heat pump installations in the next 12 months?' The chart shows the percentage of respondents' expectations. The categories and their respective percentages are: A lot (0%), A fair amount (25.7%), A little (37.1%), Hardly anything (34.3%), and None (2.9%)
We hypothesised that to feel confident that a large scheme based on the Start at home model would be of interest to the plumbing and heating industry, the motivations stated by participants should refer to the key features of the Start at home intervention. To analyse the interviews, we categorised engineers’ motivations into broad themes and compared them based on the frequency of mention during the interviews. We found that the characteristics of the Start at home intervention were a key factor for joining, as shown in figure 6.
Figure 6: Top 3 sets of motivations of installers joining the Start at home project
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Bar chart titled 'Figure 6: Top 3 sets of motivations of installers joining the Start at home project.' The chart is based on the responses of 24 participants and shows the number of mentions during qualitative interviews. The categories and their respective number of mentions are: 'Now is the right time to do it' (48 mentions), 'Barriers removed (Start at home characteristics)' (42 mentions), and 'Broader societal change' (41 mentions).
The most mentioned set of motivations for joining the Start at home project refers to the timely nature of the project – 48 references. These motivations include the desire to future-proof their business, stating that heat pumps in general are the future of the industry. As two engineers explain:
“The reason [to get into heat pumps] is the change in circumstances. There aren’t going to be boilers in the future. It may not affect me, but will affect the guys. I need to prepare things for the guys, just so that we're moving forward.”
“As I said, it is to future-proof my business, and hopefully my son will take over after me, and we'll already be into that [heat pumps].”
Even when some explained that they didn’t expect to install many heat pumps themselves, they still felt preparation would help the long-term success of the business, given many would likely pass it on to a family member or employee.
This first set of motivations also includes wanting to get a head start on competition. One interviewee describes wanting:
“to be qualified to do the new roles before it becomes mainstream, so we can get a head start on any other companies – hopefully anyway.”
Overall, this emphasis on the timely nature of the project matches the results from our survey showing that they generally believe that heat pumps are a good solution for home heating (figure 4).
Most notably, we find that the features of the Start at home intervention itself, and the barriers that it removes, are the second most mentioned set of motivations – 42 references. One installer highlights the learning opportunity that Start at home represents, which attracted him to the project.
“I think that'd be a great learning opportunity to find out exactly what's needed, what process you have to do, what steps you have to do. And once you've done one [installation], the next ones are always a lot easier.”
Others pointed out that the Start at home intervention was appealing because it gives them the opportunity to kickstart their move into heat pumps, through the opportunity of free training and the practical option to put it into practice “right through, from start to finish.”
Many participants also point to the appeal of testing things out in the comfort of their own home to better advise customers altogether:
“I always like to try stuff in my own home, so I'll fit products and try them out a wee bit, just to see how good they are, whether it be a radiator valve, controls, a boiler, just so I know that I can recommend it. So that's what appealed to me, we've got an opportunity here [...] because you're getting the essentials to get you going.”
“The great thing is that we're getting to install one in our own property. So we can play with it, we can work away a bit. But it also becomes a display piece when somebody says to you ‘oh, what you got in your house? Well, I've got a combi boiler,’ but if somebody says ‘what you got in your house? Well, I've got a heat pump.’ It changes the conversation. [...] I'm going to have the added value to say ‘Well, I have one and it works.’
The third most cited set of motivations refers to broader societal change – 41 references. These include the increasing salience of green discourses, the recent changes in legislation (such as the Future Homes Standard) and the fact that heat pumps are becoming more common and customers now ask about heat pumps. As a couple of installers state:
“I’m interested in heat pumps because I think in a few years that's going to be how most houses are gonna go anyway. Especially in new builds anyway, we are predominantly focused on just doing heat pumps.”
“I think it's got to be done. We can't continue the way we're working the planet and all. We can't do that forever.”
Overall, these motivations are consistent with previous surveys of the industry, such as the survey conducted by Vaillant in April 2023. They find that the top motivators for heating professionals looking to enter the heat pump sector are future-proofing their business, personal financial benefits from widening their portfolio, and supporting the net-zero agenda. Yet, our findings suggest that the key features of the Start at home intervention – access to training and the opportunity to do a first heat pump installation in your own home – are appealing to plumbing and heating professionals and create a separate set of motivations. The enthusiasm for these features signals that there is both a need and appetite for such initiatives within the sector. This is encouraging for the scalability of the project, as it suggests that extending the programme beyond the pilot phase could attract a similarly motivated group of professionals, enhancing the potential for wider adoption and success.
