Last week, we launched the 'Visit a heat pump' service. Part of the rationale is to close the knowledge gap about the technology by making it easy for people to visit a heat pump in their area and ask any questions they have.

In March the UK Government published its latest Public Attitudes Tracker survey – a treasure trove of data about the public’s awareness and understanding of climate change issues, green heating and low-carbon choices. Knowledge and information are barriers to heat pump adoption and this shows in the data. 

There are many ways in which people need information and reassurance about technology for decarbonising homes. As part of this work, we delved into the most recent data on people's attitudes towards low-carbon heating and heat pumps specifically, for a temperature check on the public’s awareness of the transition to green heating and whether there are signs of change.

A glance across a variety of indicators shows that some attitudes have remained stagnant and low, while others have shown signs of improvement. What are the potential implications of these trends? 

1. The only low-carbon heating system better known by the public now compared to the previous year are heat pumps

Three-quarters of people are aware of air source heat pumps – making them the low-carbon heating system with the highest level of overall awareness. This awareness is highest among older age groups and is especially high among those who say they know at least a fair amount about net zero.

The overall high level of awareness is a positive sign, but awareness isn’t the same as sentiment – it may be that more people are aware but don’t feel positively about heat pumps. But of all low-carbon heating systems, air source heat pumps were the sole technology to see a slight increase in the share of people who say they know a lot or a fair amount about them, now representing one in five people. 

Currently, it might be the case that people who know more than a little about heat pumps are more likely to install them; however, over time, as heat pumps become the norm, awareness and knowledge will become more widespread and thus be less of a barrier.