Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy Ambition Response through uptake of Heat Pumps

Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy Ambition Response through uptake of Heat Pumps

CLEAR-HP

Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy Ambition Response through uptake of Heat Pumps

Project information

Name : CLEAR-HP - Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy Ambition Response through uptake of Heat Pumps

Overall budget : 2103491.60 €

EU contribution : 1998317.03 €

Coordinated by : Bureau Europeen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC)

Start date : 01/09/2023 - End date : 30/06/2026

Grant ID : 101119923

Programme (s)

LIFE2027

Cordis link : https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101033682

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With the REPowerEU communication, the EU has signalled its intention to reduce its reliance on natural gas, and to achieve independence from Russian gas, by 2027. Among other measures, the EU has set itself its ambition to reach 10 million heat pumps installed in the next five years, which is a substantial acceleration of the current roll-out pace. However - many consumers are still struggling to even begin their journey to install a heat pump due to the challenges they face with installers, a general lack of understanding of the products, and the unavailability of trustworthy information. Several challenges that consumers face have already been identified by consumer organisations, and include (among others):

• Identifying the right solution: consumers struggle to understand whether, and what kind of heat pump is suitable for their house and must rely on expert advice. In some cases, this advice can be ill-informed, contradictory and/or inadequate, resulting in insufficiently heated homes, inefficient installations and wasted consumer investment. These cases can also contribute to an anti-heat pump narrative at national level.
• Making their homes suitable for heat pump installation. The readiness of a consumer’s home for a heat pump installation is directly related to the heat needs reduction (home insulation) and the suitability of their home. Therefore, consumers can be confused about the stage at which their home is at, and they can lack access to trusted advice on the next steps they must undertake to turn their homes into a heat
pump ready state.
• Accessing reliable installers and retailers. Consumers can face great difficulties in find a trustworthy and fully informed installer, and it may take months to book an appointment with a specialist who can visit consumers’ homes to assess what solution is best for them.
• Financing the high upfront costs. Although heat pumps are very efficient and have low running costs, they are often more expensive than the available alternatives at purchase. This can deter consumers from investing, especially older people who are less likely to appreciate the long-term benefits of the technology versus the immediate costs and hassle of an installation.
Target countries
CLEAR-HP will specifically aim to tackle the challenges that consumers face in Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. These EU Member States, primarily in Southern and Eastern Europe, have been selected for the high (and growing) consumer demand for heat pumps technologies, the presence of suitably sized, trusted and experienced2 consumer organisations, and a broader positive environmental consciousness among consumers3. It is expected that these factors will facilitate more successful collective purchase campaigns as well as higher uptake of the other CLEAR-HP activities.

Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy Ambition Response through uptake of Heat Pumps – aims to facilitate consumers’ access to heat pumps products by accompanying consumers throughout the whole purchasing journey, and by addressing financial and regulatory barriers.
Independent consumer organisations from Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain, led by BEUC, The European Consumer Organisation, have partnered with the International Consumer Research & Testing (ICRT) and with the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) to promote consumer awareness and empower them to lead the clean energy transition, improving the energy performance and comfort of their homes, and reducing their energy bills.

This will be done by:
– Providing information to consumers on the availability, quality and suitability of heat pump products for their homes. – Analysing and identifying available financing opportunities for consumers and address gaps with national authorities, to improve consumers’ access to heat pump technologies.
– Exploring and developing partnerships with heat pump suppliers and installers at national and European level. – Launching collective purchase schemes based on ‘purchase and install’ packages which ensure the quality of the product offered and simplify the purchasing process for consumers, as well as offering consumers ongoing advice and support.
– Upskilling installers of heat pumps in what consumers need to know.
– Communicating to consumers the general benefits of heat pumps versus traditional technologies to encourage new and future investments and interest.

Results that should be achieved : CLEAR-HP will engage at least 43,000 consumers in collective purchase campaigns across 7 countries and will trigger 3.5M EUR of new investments in RES technologies, 2 GWh of primary energy savings, and reductions of 639 tCO2,- eq GHG emssions within the project duration alone.