The UK’s heat pump rollout has been branded a disaster with around 277,000 installed out of a 600,000 pledge.
As it bids to decarbonise heating the British government has committed to installing the pumps in UK homes by 2028, but so far it has managed just 412 heat pumps per 100,000 people, according to research by Heatpumps London.
Despite being three to four times more efficient than other heating options, such as LPG, oil, electricity and gas boilers, there is significant concern over the lack of engineers able to fit them in UK homes leading to high installation costs and long wait times.
It is thought that the increasing rate of heat pump adoption in the UK could create 55,000 new jobs, but there are currently only around 2,000 jobs in the industry.
The government is urging households to switch from their gas boilers to heat pumps, but it is thought a lack of knowledge among tradespeople regarding the technology presents a significant obstacle to transitioning.
According to Fix Radio, a UK broadcaster aimed at builders, 56% of builders say they lack sufficient information to advise on alternatives to traditional gas boilers, with 44% admitting they would not recommend heat pumps due to unawareness of their benefits.
It also said 11% of builders are unaware of available grants like the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, further hindering the uptake.
There are also misconceptions among homeowners, with 50% believing heat pumps are expensive to install according to the radio station.
A spokesman for Fix Radio said “efforts must be made to educate builders and householders alike on the benefits of heat pumps” if the UK is to hit its target.
It comes after the radio station held a debate on the roll-out with heating engineers, John Cruikshank and Simon Poskett, agreeing the government needed to do more in order to meet its own targets.
Mr Cruikshank said: “Many tradespeople are put off by going down the road to MSC because doors just seem to be closing at every chance because nobody knows what’s going on. I say tradespeople should go down the route of renewables as it will be a big part of our heating and hot water. It’s not the silver bullet that we’re all looking for, but with the energy crisis and living standards, it’s very difficult.
“I don’t know how the government will get 150,000 heat pump engineers trained in time to fit the 600,000 they want because there is no direction. The government initially said if you have a level two in plumbing and water rigs, you could go for a heat pump, yet it took me 18 months to two years to train in heat pumps.
“These are issues we should have been talking about 20 years ago but we’ve now come to a point where we’re approaching deadlines which keep getting pushed back. The government never seems to consider the people who are actually on the ground who carry out this work.”
Mr Poskett added that there needed to be a clear direction from the government in order to get the pumps into homes.
He added: “The legislation and policy needs a clear direction which we still don’t have. Companies aren’t investing, mainly because of the greener policy being kicked into the long grass.
“There is a very large workforce out there that is currently doing gas, but the training is needed for heat pumps because they’re a very different beast. We’ve got over 15,000 heat geek installers now, we’re right at the start of the journey.”
The Climate Change Committee estimates 230,000 new jobs will be required to meet building decarbonisation targets by 2030.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been contacted for comment.
