PieFedUK government hires ‘nudge unit’ to help dispel heat pump myths
sabreW4K3www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/01/uk-…
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/22128148
Experts from a “nudge unit” have been hired to help ministers fight misinformation about heat pumps to try to encourage take-up of the devices.
The appliances run on electricity instead of gas and are regarded as a way of decarbonising homes at scale. A target of installing 600,000 a year by 2028 is part of a drive to achieve Britain’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050.
However, misinformation shared in the media and by “other stakeholders” is impeding uptake, according to a £100,000 government contract awarded to the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), which specialises in ideas to “nudge” the public into taking different actions.
The contract awarded to BIT contains details of a previously unpublished research by the Department for Energy.
It found that individuals who self-reported that they knew a fair amount or a lot about heat pumps were less likely to want one. However, people who correctly answered a simple knowledge question about heat pumps were more likely to want one.
BIT is finalising a large survey of householders’ views and coverage in the media that will be used in planning how the government will push back against misinformation.
“Information about heat pumps is being shared by the media and stakeholders, which may be skewed to negative, incorrect or exaggerated stories of heat pump adoption,” says the contract, which cites examples including claims that the pumps are noisy, cost too much to install and are not reliable and don’t work in older homes.
Articles about heat pumps in the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph were cited in the document, which states that some of these stories “are generally well-founded, such as believing that heat pumps are expensive” but adds that some include incorrect misconceptions, such as believing they might not work well in the cold.
“Online information which is imbalanced or skewed towards incorrect and exaggerated claims could be considered an environment where misinformation is a problem,” it reads.
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Articles about heat pumps in the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph were cited in the document, which states that some of these stories “are generally well-founded, such as believing that heat pumps are expensive” but adds that some include incorrect misconceptions, such as believing they might not work well in the cold.
I haven't blocked those two from my newsfeed and the constant drizzle of anti-EV news is enlightening. Makes you wonder whose agenda they are promoting pushing back against important green initiatives.
The world economy has a really scary event ahead of it, and many are doing whatever they can to avoid it. The event is the change from an oil based world economy to an electricity based one. It's scary for a number of reasons.
- A number of industries are based off the drilling, refining, transporting and sale of oil and gas based products. All of those industries become basically worthless. Additionally any manufacture of goods that consume oil based products (e.g. cars) that need to pivot at much cost.
- Electricity generation is much more diverse than oil production. Anywhere between the tropics can generate from the sun with abandon. Costal countries have wind and tidal sources. Mountainous regions can use hydro, volcanic - geothermal.
All of this takes power away from the oil producing nations. Nations will become much more self sufficient. The middle east loses much of its importance. Russia is toast. America takes a hit. - The dollar is the fiat currency of the world because of oil. This no longer needs to be true.
- The loss of trading oil as a commodity will destabilise markets. Electricity is not traded in commodity markets. It's mainly traded in highly regulated closed auctions, or between national bodies.
- Renewables will hit a point where we have large amounts of cheap plentiful energy. This will be deflationary on a global scale. All goods are transported and cheap transportation means prices should go down. The alternative is that gains are taken as profits and would be highly inflationary. Either way - destabilising.
Renewable energy is going to change the world. A lot of (currently) powerful people are terrified.
I'm sure there's still going to be a huge need for oil based products but I agree the world economy is going to see some huge changes to it. Idk what we will replace oil with, if we ever can, plastics make up so much of everything but overall oil use will decline when it's not used as fuel for everything mechanical.
Certainly going to be some interesting times we'll be living through as we march towards the cyberpunk dystopia.
I think we are in the cyberpunk dystopia today. I hope we are heading for a solarpunk future. Green tech is now cheap effective tech. Open technology is taking over more and more. Most people just don't see that because the bit they interact with is wrapped with closed.
The problems of massive international monopolies is also economic one of lack of innovation and price competition. The problem of inequality so bad the rich can basically buy countries elections, is also economic one. At the other end of it, people can't buy well, and are stuck in the "Sam Vimes's boots problem", which is bad economics. It's "lost opportunity cost" to have to waste money like that. Same with "right to repair", it's rubbish for citizen and society to have to not be able to repair. Etc etc
Where the economics leads is more solarpunk than today. 😃
It might take quite a bit of wondering to work out specifically who, but I think you can gather the general gist of whose agenda they're promoting without too much wondering :)
Oh I've got a good general idea but I'd love to know the specifics - are they doing it to be contrarians or because it's a fairly well-accepted Tory press narrative or are think tanks funded by fossil fuel companies giving them "press releases" or "talking points" that a "journalist" then reworks into what passes for an "article"?
The UK is so ignorant of heat pumps it is shocking. It's willful ignorance where people know better than the experts. Same with induction hobs.
Having lived in Aus and NZ. Heat pumps and induction is by far superior technology.
This is not to say the UK doesn't have a drastic issue with insulation. But that's a separate matter.
There is no excuse for all new builds being mandated with heat pumps and induction today.
Heat pumps definitely have their benefits, I have one myself. I just wonder what comes. Like where I live there was a big push for heat pumps and solar, but then the prices soared. And the rules have changed to make even solar cost more to simply have.
Until there is a way to prosecute lying on the internet this misinformation problem will not go away. I can’t wait until there is a workable answer to this.
I know everything I need to know about heat pumps.
I live in a flat. I am literally not allowed to install anything outside for a proper split.
There is no location in my small property where noise would not disturb sleep or the general enjoyment of being here. So even with permission an air source pump is not viable.
I'd need permission to install a ground source unit outside which wouldn't be impossible.
But then it's likely to be got the whole building as that would be the most efficient.
I'm not sharing an energy bill for heating with my neighbours. My consumption is low.
There are millions like me in this country.
What I would install is an electric boiler. Essentially inductive or resistive heat.
Which is half as efficient as a heat pump. But I'd have control of my bill and with the consumption for a single person flat the long term expense of installing and maintaining a heat pump eat into any efficiency savings they have.
The only thing stopping me is gas is cheaper per kW because we're burning gas to make electricity at a ~45% efficiency compared to a 90% efficiency of piping it here to be turned directly into heat.
Cut fossil fuels out of the electricity supply. Then I'll install an electric boiler. Until then I'll burn gas more efficiently here.
Heat pumps work for those with outside space. Those who have luxuries.
Electric cars work for those with driveways. More outside space. More luxury.
I could buy into that luxury soon enough. I will upgrade my property at some point. But it's not going to solve any climate change issues unless they solve the issue for everyone, not just the middle class and upwards.
The government need to stop burning gas for electricity. When they do I'll probably be paying more for energy, but the poorest can use the same infrastructure and be subsidised.
Renewables, grid storage, reasonably priced charging with on street chargers near everyone's homes. We'll all be able to go carbon free.
Heat pumps are part of the solution, but really they're the smallest part. They only offer an efficiency saving over resistive heating. The cost is noise pollution, maintenance cost, space, and complexity.
I don't take the government's climate targets seriously when heat pumps are their main policy.
Almost like there is a coordinated campaign by gas & oil lobbyists across the globe. Curious.
(Greetings from Germany where the government had the goal of helping 500k heat pumps get installed in 2024. People installed 200k heat pumps, but 500k gas/oil furnaces. This follows a solid year 2022/2023 of concentrated disinformation campaigns about heat pumps.)
Caveat: In Europe, heat pumps usually provide either no or less effective cooling though, because our heatings usually use water as the medium rather than air like in the US. And heat pumps are usually connected with a buffer tank, in many cases that's a combination hot drinkable water + heating water tank.
Water as the medium means cooling is usually less effective. And if you fuck up that buffer tank, cooling doesn't work at all.
Many of the highest efficiency heat pumps in the world are operating in Europe. How does water lower efficiency?
I was talking about cooling only.
How is water less efficient for cooling?
My opinion is that it isn't. If it can remove heat then it will cool the same as air AC.
However it comes with the problem of condensation everywhere. So those room radiators that give off heat in the winter will be dripping with condensation in the summer. As will all the system pipework that isn't fully insulated and protected.
So that's probably a lot of water running different places in the home.
You're a bit confused about buffer tanks. They are thermal stores and just store primary heating circuit water.
The water from the buffer tank isn't the hot water from the tap. The water in the buffer tank will be used to indirectly heat mains water. Either through a plate heat exchanger or an unvented cylinder.
I am not confused, although maybe my wording was confusing.
My point is, that generally speaking, you can't use water from the same tank to heat your drinking water and to cool your home (because it mixes and the resulting temperature will fill neither requirement). There are of course tons of variants of buffer tanks, and in some cases there are bypasses or there's a physical separation between heating water and (water used to heat) drinking water
Where is this misinformation? I have never heard anyone say anything bad about heat pumps.
To be fair, heat pumps *are* noisy. I've lived in two houses with heat pumps now and my nextdoor neighbor has one. All of them are loud. They're still worth it.
Not really. Older ones are loud, small/underpowered ones are loud but new, larger, correctly sized, modulating heat pumps can be fairly quiet.
The first one I experienced was definitely small and underpowered and I hated it because it couldn't keep up with 80°F+ temperatures. And it was fucking *loud*.
The two more recent ones I have had experience with are only a few years old, appropriately sized, and much more capable. They're not quite as loud, but still noisy.
As someone who is somewhat sensitive to sound, I couldn't stand the first one. The current one that I have, I often don't notice that it's on until it turns off and I suddenly feel a rush of relief that it's quiet again.
So they do have at least one downside. At least my current one can keep up with whatever weather comes our way.
Modern heat pumps are very quiet.
Again...we have them. Unless by "modern" you mean something like "no more than 2 years old", yes, they are still noisy.
No, they aren't. I have 2. I'm sitting 8 feet from one right now. The only thing you hear is the whoosh of air.
Edit: I think you are talking of the super old motel style heat pumps. Not minisplits. Old style heat pumps are noisy. Minisplits are not. But seriously, minisplits have been a thing for the better part of a decade... Who the fuck is still installing motel style heat pumps anymore?
I'm talking about modern heat pumps which do not use mini splits. Mini splits are nice and quiet. But whoever owned my house before me installed a heat pump that does not use them but uses the ductwork. It's loud.
There are obviously multiple models and we're not talking about the same ones. Neither of us is wrong.
Ahh ok that makes sense. I feel like pretty much everyone is installing minisplits these days. Not saying that heat pumps don't still exist, but it's kind of a "but... Why?“ reaction. As in, why would anyone install this over an adequately powered minisplit.
*Happy Technology Connections noises*
"more heat pumps, more now"
So strange to me that there's even a debate. Renting, and now with my own home, I've had heat pumps forever. I thought this was settled technology, perfectly normal, expected, decades old to me.
That is a very large heat pump in the thumbnail!
Heat pumps are great… if your house is well-insulated. I’ve heard that many houses in the UK are quite old and would need expensive insulation retrofits to make a heat pump viable. The issue is that while a heat pump is extremely efficient it is very slow at pulling heat out of cold air. This means it needs to run for very long cycles (up to 24 hours continuously) in order to slowly warm up the house.
If the house is poorly insulated and draughty then you may be losing heat faster than the heat pump is able to replace it. This would cause the heat pump to run nonstop as the temperature in the house gradually falls.
Source
Those debunks are misleading. Each one uses a different set of assumptions. In one they claim that you don’t need good insulation to use a heat pump. In another they claim that heat pumps work fine in very cold temperatures. But their source for the second claim is from countries like Norway, Finland, and Sweden which have the best insulation in the world. If you combine bad insulation with very low temperatures then the system cannot keep up.
People always worry about the worst case scenario. If your heating system is working fine for 364/365 days per year, that is a failure. On the coldest day of the year, when the temperature inside the house is dropping to uncomfortable levels and everyone is shivering while the heat pump is running at maximum (and making a lot of noise while doing so) then people will report a bad experience and clamour for their gas boiler to come back.
I have the luxury of having a dual system (gas furnace and heat pump) and I can tell you that on the coldest days of the year the heat pump cannot keep up, the furnace gets turned on automatically. The heat pump is also very noisy when it is working at full capacity. This is not the case most of the time (during shoulder seasons) but it definitely occurs during the heart of winter. My house is extremely well-insulated (though still well below Nordic standards).
You still have and use a heat pump though. The propaganda in the UK is telling everyone that heat pumps are not perfect, so best throw up your hands and keep burning fossil fuels forever. In reality some combo of insulation, heat pump, and backup system can work just fine.