Heat pumps are central to clean and secure heating, yet adoption remains uneven and is often slowed by concerns about cost, reliability, and complexity. How can communication help bridge this gap? A study by the USERs TCP explored how governments can communicate costs, comfort, and credibility to build public trust and support the transition to low-carbon home heating.
Insights from the USERs TCP project Constructive Narratives for Heat Pump Adoption – Communicating the Transition to Low-Carbon Home Heating were presented during a webinar on April 11, 2026 (recorded and available here). The study drew on international case studies, a literature review, and practitioner interviews to explore how governments can communicate costs, comfort, and credibility, build public trust, and support the transition to low-carbon home heating.
Context of the study
- Heat pumps have been prioritised by many governments as a critical technology for achieving net-zero targets.
- Yet despite policy incentives, growing climate awareness and proven technical performance, adoption remains slow in many markets.
- A key barrier is not only technological or economic, but communicative: citizens must believe that switching to heat pumps is feasible, beneficial, and supported in practice.
- In this context, public narratives—how heat pumps are framed, explained, and made meaningful—have become increasingly central to accelerating market uptake.
Core questions addressed
The main questions addressed were:
- How do governments frame heat pump adoption in communication campaigns?
- Which narratives appear most effective in motivating household action?
- How do different actors, such as installers, energy advisers, and community organisations, function as trusted intermediaries in the adoption journey?
Overall takeaways and learnings
The main conclusions from the study presented during the webinar were:
- Communication alone cannot drive heat pump adoption; it is most effective when integrated with supportive policy, finance, and delivery systems.
- Its key role is to reduce uncertainty and help households make informed decisions about costs, suitability, and installation.
- Financial considerations (upfront cost, running cost, risk) are the primary drivers of adoption and require clear and transparent messaging.
- Trust and real-world reassurance, often delivered by installers, advisers, and peers, are critical to shaping perceptions and decisions.
- Successful strategies align communication with policy, emphasise practical benefits, and adapt to misinformation and changing conditions.
To see the full webinar or view the slide deck, visit this page on the USERs TCP website.