Lack of awareness of renewable heat technologies is hampering uptake across the country.

H.D. Services Ltd have always felt that the government needs to do more to raise awareness of alternatives to fossil fuels to heat homes, especially given there are decarbonisation targets that the UK have signed up to meet which we look ever more likely to miss.

We have always felt that there is a significant lack of information available to the public which clearly explains what the options are and the type of project or home they are best suited for. This results in a huge barrier to uptake.

Within our specific area of open-loop ground source heating (which utilises ground water as a heat source) we regularly have to challenge preconceived ideas and inaccuracies relating to the adoption of the technology for the domestic market.

The largest barrier we face is the complete lack of agreement across the industry and other large public advice websites, regarding the classification of the option we install. Some very large and well known public advice sites classify heat pumps that utilise groundwater as a heat source as water source heat pumps; while the accreditation body for the heat pumps we install classify them as open-loop ground source heat pumps and the Ground Source Heat Pump Association classify them as groundwater source heat pumps. If this is confusing for us, it must be baffling for the general public. (Just so you know, we classify them as open-loop ground source heat pumps in line with the accreditation body – MCS – who certify the the heat pump units we install and us as installers.)

We have long thought that the government could be doing significantly more to educate the general public about the choices available to them, or at the very least signpost where good quality advice and information can be found.

Generally the Energy Saving Trust provides reasonably balanced information on all renewable heating options available – including biomass boilers, although even here we find misleading and inaccurate information relating to the open-loop GSHPs we choose to install. (Rest assured we raise this with them on a regular basis.)

Good information regarding heat pumps can be found on the the Ground Source Heat Pump Association website, with more detailed information regarding how heat pumps work and different options available to people. However, we still find inconsistencies and inaccuracies in relation to open-loop GSHPs, which the GSHPA refer to as groundwater source heat pumps. Accurate and detailed information on the use of Open-Loop GSHP’s can be found on our website and we are more than happy to answer any questions directly if you wish to contact us.

Fundamentally, if the government want to see a move from the use of fossil fuels to renewables to heat homes, then the general public needs easy access to simplistic information which includes all available options, the sort of projects these would be suitable for and any limitations to the technology. (Such as the fact that open-loop GSHP systems are best suited to new/self build projects in the south east where there is a large aquifer from which it is possible to abstract sufficient amounts of water, or that air source heat pumps are at their least efficient when you need to use them the most, or the fact that closed loop GSHP systems are generally not as efficient as their open-loop GSHP alternative.)

If we are to meet targets that the UK government has agreed to then information and support needs to be readily available to the public to enable sensible discussion and decision making.