There are few offers to households that present a singular route to decarbonise their heating.  The options and choices that households have to make are not always clear and it can be difficult to understand what the right technology choice is. For homes that may require shared infrastructure, there may be no acceptable way for a household to decarbonise their heating. 

We want to test different offers to households to determine which would be the most acceptable across a range of contexts, delivery models and technologies. This will enable us to build evidence and understand what would make an area-based scheme more appealing than switching individually. We see a coordinated approach as always being optional, a choice for each household, and we want to understand how an area-based scheme can make that choice attractive and compelling.

For schemes that involve individual heat sources and/or shared infrastructure, what would the agreements between local heat bodies and delivery contractors look like? Where would responsibilities fall and how may this change or adapt to different contexts? How do households respond to different schemes, and what timescales, costs and levels of disruption are acceptable to them?

We’re also interested in the following:

• How nationwide direction setting and subsidies may help to drive local offers to households. 
• How engagement may change depending on context and the technology being delivered. 
• How consumer protection, rectification & feedback should be considered for different contexts and technologies.
• What market incentives may need to be in place to enable compelling consumer offers.

We want to hear from you, so this may be appealing if you are:

• a community group, an owners' association, or individual household wanting to decarbonise your home
• a local authority or public body tasked with delivering a decarbonisation strategy in your community
• a heat pump, ground loop or heat network manufacturer interested in communal heating solutions or in delivering low-carbon heating solutions to groups of households.

We’re looking to start projects as soon as possible, with the view of capturing the first learnings from projects by summer 2025.

If you’re interested in discussing any of the briefs that follow, or have a project that you wish to share, please reach out to [email protected].