The training experience of Start at home installers
As shown in figure 7 – which displays the results of the survey we conducted in July 2024 before the participants attended training – while some participants reported having some knowledge of heat pumps, the majority had relatively little.
Figure 7: How would you rate your current knowledge of heat pumps as a heating technology for private homes?
Image Description
Bar chart titled 'Figure 7: How would you rate your current knowledge of heat pumps as a heating technology for private homes?' The chart shows the percentage of respondents' self-rated knowledge levels. The categories and their respective percentages are: A lot (2.9%), A fair amount (42.9%), A little (45.7%), Hardly anything, but I've heard of it (8.6%), and Never heard of it (0%).
In some cases, the interviews revealed how installers gained their knowledge of heat pumps. Some installers explained that many elements of heat pump systems are similar to other types of systems, being “just another heat source”, “much the same” and “not anything confusing, not hard to get right” and are therefore not completely unknown to them. Others gained experience having fitted some heat pumps in new builds. One installer told us:
“Last year I fitted 7 heat pumps [in new builds], but I never designed or commissioned them. A heat pump isn't hard to fit [...] If you've got a drawing in front of you, any plumber could fit a heat pump. It's how they work, how you leave the heat pump, and how they work efficiently, that’s where the breakdown is, not installing them.”
For those with limited knowledge about heat pumps prior to the training, they highlighted the difference between heat pumps and other heating systems such as gas and oil, and the gap between “doing something on paper or watching a video” and “actually experiencing it [a heat pump installation] yourself”. Others mentioned the different sets of skills required to install heat pumps, as this quote illustrates:
“You need all your sizes to be perfect or close to perfect. On the heat pump side, if somebody says ‘I've got properties here, there's a cylinder and there's a heat pump, I’ve sized that up for that property’, I could do it all day long, no problem at all. But my skills are not in sizing houses and windows and taking in all these unit values and stuff.”
These findings highlight the diversity in knowledge levels among the Start at home participants before they attended the heat pump training, which is worth noticing as it may shape expectations about and experience of the training, separated from factors related to the delivery and content of the course itself.
Overall, for many participants, training led to increased knowledge, covering heat pumps and how they function in-depth and building confidence in their knowledge of the technology – 46 references. One installer explained how the training “helped me no end at all because I understood it a whole lot better. It took going to the college, the training centre for that … it really did make me understand it a whole lot better.” The low temperature and hot water heating system course was especially praised by participants, as illustrated by this quote:
“Low-temperature training was absolutely first class. It highlighted things that are often taken for granted and unpacked them.”
Participants also commented on the breadth of knowledge and experience of the trainers:
“[The trainer]was so informative, so knowledgeable. He just explained things very well and he just knew the subject inside out about air-source heat pumps and whatnot. I thought it was absolutely fantastic.”
Some participants even mentioned changing their mind about heat pumps as a result of their discussions with peers and trainers:
“I'll be honest – when I started this process, I wouldn't have given you a fiver for a heat pump! But, having actually gone on the courses, and spoken to people that are doing it, I'm actually becoming a believer in them.”
Yet a common theme about the training experience was that it lacks practical aspects and often it is not sufficient to feel confident about doing a heat pump installation for a customer. Factors mentioned by participants include needing the training to be ‘more hands-on’ and focused on ‘how the heat pump works’, learning by ‘making the mistakes’, rather than focusing on ‘theory’ and ‘heat loss calculations’. As one business owner explains, the training should be:
“Maybe more hands-on, [...] because I know that the guys probably like myself in the trades are sort of hands-on guys and they pick up stuff when they're actually physically doing things rather than maybe listening to a book ... There was a tiny bit of course that was hands-on, but I think more would be more engaging for the guys I think.”
Several heating engineers summarised how they felt after the training by highlighting that:
“At the end of that, you couldn't walk out of that and then go fit a heat pump."
“Oh, I certainly know a lot more about heat pumps, but what I would say though is that I still don't think I'd be 100% confident doing a retrofit in an existing property.[...] As I said, retrofitting an existing house I think would still be a bit of a put-off, until we're a wee bit more happy and certainly doing them in new builds and just seeing the performance and whatnot as well.”
This shows that confidence in one’s own skills and confidence in the technology may discourage installers from moving into retrofitting heat pumps for their customers, even after attending training.
Importantly, what many installers identify as needed to feel more confident are the specific opportunities that the Start at home intervention provides. That is, the chance to practice skills doing a retrofit in an existing property without the pressure of doing it for a customer, as well as seeing how the heat pump performs and learning to improve the efficiency of the heating system as the installer lives with the heat pump. Overall, these findings suggest that a scheme like Start at home would complement the existing training available to plumbing and heating professionals.
