In a recent column we reflected on the perils of over-looking potentially brilliant new technology, in order to avoid being cast by history as “the man who turned down the Beatles” in our own sectors.
The issue was brought sharply into focus with the recent publication of the Energy Saving Trust’s report on heat pumps, Getting warmer. It’s an important piece of research, as it provides the first detailed picture on the actual performance of heat pump systems in the field.
For those who believe heat pumps are a potentially transformational technology, set to sweep aside conventional approaches to heating, it gives plenty of food for thought.
It’s not a dry academic study. The researchers rolled up their sleeves and got intimate with more than 80 live heat pump systems working in homes and small commercial premises across the country.
They wanted to see whether they delivered what manufacturers promised, and whether their owners were happy with them.
They discovered a wide variation in heat pump performance. The best installations were efficient, performed well and saved their owners money. At the other end of the scale, however, some systems did not perform as advertised, and were at best limping along.
Three big lessons emerge. First, we need improved training standards for heat pump installers. The technology may be good, and getting even better, but if it is not installed properly it will not perform as intended.
Second, it is vital to get system design right for each application. A heat pump is not a one-size, one-design-fits-all appliance that can be simply plugged in and switched on. It is capable of many things, providing heating, hot water, and even cooling in some cases, via radiators, fan coils, storage tanks, underfloor and so on.
The design needs to be tuned to the requirements and intended usage of each application. If it is not, it will not deliver.
Finally, the industry needs to educate end users on how heat pumps work. Unlike a boiler, which uses a flame to heat water and is easy to understand, a heat pump has a touch of black magic about it.
For a start, it delivers more energy than you put in. How does it do that? We need to explain how the technology works to end users, so that they can get the best out of their systems – and become advocates and evangelists, rather than heat pump poopers.
Critics of the report point out that many of the installations studied were early adopters, and that technology and application knowledge have moved on significantly. The picture now, they say, is much more uniformly positive.
This may be. However, the reputation of heat pumps in the market is being shaped now by the experiences of those who are using the technology, and by the skill levels of the people who design and install it.
We as an industry need to get this right. Or this brilliant technology will not fulfil its promise, and we will collectively have turned down the Beatles.