84% of UK residents don't know what heat pumps are

The survey showed that more than three quarters of UK residents don’t know what constitutes a renewable heating solution, with around two thirds incorrectly identifying wind turbines and solar PV as renewable heating technologies (rather than electricity generators). Only 25% of those surveyed thought biomass was a renewable heating source, and just 16% when asked about heat pumps.

Most respondents (81%) agreed that reducing energy waste was a good thing, but the majority were focused on relatively small measures such as energy efficient light bulbs and double glazing, with very few having looked at switching to a renewable heating solution.

Three out of four people said they didn’t know what biomass heating systems or heat pumps are.

The lowest level of cost savings that respondents would consider as sufficient to make them install energy efficient improvements was on average £247 per year.

Commenting on these finding, Innasol CEO Silvio Spiess (pictured) says: “Nearly all respondents believe it is important to improve the energy efficiency in their home and to reduce their heating bills and yet many are unaware of the benefits or viable solutions available, or confused over the various government incentives. The Government must do more to combat this. If we can do more to highlight the benefits, there is no reason why these cleaner, greener and more affordable heating technologies cannot be as prominent in the UK as they are in other European countries.”