Heat pump user experiences, behaviour and satisfaction

This confidential report to the Energy Saving Trust as part of the EST's domestic heat pump field trial presents the principal findings from in-depth questionnaire surveys undertaken by the Open University (OU) Design Innovation Group to investigate user experiences, behaviour, perceptions and satisfaction with domestic heat pump systems and is the most comprehensive research involving heat pump users undertaken to date in the UK. The user engagement involved interactions between Autumn 2008 and Winter 2009-10, with 78 private householders and social housing residents, whose heat pump systems were monitored in the EST heat pump field trial. These participants completed one or more of 4 questionnaires designed by the OU. The OU questionnaires surveyed these users’ experiences, behaviour, satisfaction and feedback when using a ground or air source heat pump system installed in two main types of site:  Private housing sites, where the householders had purchased a system (often with the aid of a grant under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) or the Scottish Communities & Householders Renewables Initiative (SCHRI – now Energy Saving Scotland Home Renewables Grants);  Social housing sites, with homes occupied by residents with a system provided or managed by housing associations, local authorities and a charity.