The Electrification of Heat (EoH) demonstration project, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) (formally the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)), is seeking to better understand the technical and practical feasibility of a large-scale rollout of heat pumps into existing British homes.

Energy Systems Catapult was appointed to lead the management contractor consortium, with three delivery contractors led by Warmworks in South East of Scotland, E.On in Newcastle, and Ovo Energy in South East of England.

Hundreds of UK households took part in the trial. From 1950s terraces to new builds, no property type proved unsuitable for a heat pump. See below for case studies on some of the trial’s heat pump pioneers.

The challenge

The recruitment and installation phase of the EoH project ran from July 2020 through to October 2021, and despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, 742 heat pumps were installed into a broad spectrum of housing types and socio-economic groups that reflect a representative sample of households across Great Britain.

Householders were asked to reflect on their first-hand experiences of taking part in the programme, including disruption during the installation work, thoughts on the noise and aesthetics of the technology, and the outcomes for warmth and comfort.

The solutions

The range of different heat pumps installed, included:

• Low-temperature and high-temperature air-source heat pumps
• Ground-source heat pumps
• Hybrid heat pumps incorporated with a gas boiler
• Some additional technologies, such as heat batteries were incorporated.

The outcomes

The installation phase of the EoH project demonstrates there is no property type or architectural era that is unsuitable for a heat pump – the Government-funded Electrification of Heat project has demonstrated.

From Victorian mid-terraces to pre-WWII semis and a 1960s block of flats – the project has proven that heat pumps can be successfully installed in homes from every style and era.