Subject: Accidental heat pump owners, and final Energise workshops 🎛️

Accidental heat pump owners, and final Energise workshops 🎛️

Hi Friend,

So, here we are in 2025. Carbon Co-op are continuing with our various projects, working with people and communities to tackle their domestic carbon emissions. Our work with the Levenshulme Area Based scheme is well underway, last week we held a site visit for experts and collaborators to share knowledge and experience from the scheme.

We are continuing our work with social housing tenants with heat pumps, to help them make the most of their heating systems to live more comfortably, to save money and reduce their carbon emissions. As part of this, we are keen to hear any advice for unwitting heat pump owners!

Next week we have some of our final workshops for the Energise project. So if you haven't taken part already then now is the time to sign up!

Could you get a free air-to-air heat pump?

We've been approached by Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) to help with their recruitment for a pilot of air-to-air heat pumps.

The Energy Catapult is collaborating on a government-funded initiative with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The project, Homes for Net Zero (HFNZ), explores the benefits and consumer insights of using air conditioning units (air-to-air heat pumps) for both heating and cooling homes.

The program is open to electrically heated properties only.

We are seeking up to 70 flat owners to have a unit installed—free of charge (valued between £2,000 and £7,000)—while The Catapult collects data to understand the impact on their daily lives.

Additionally, we are inviting 400 homes to participate in a one-year electricity usage monitoring program, with a £50 incentive for participants.

Further Afield, an MRS registered market research company, is assisting with the participant sign-up process.

Learn more and apply

EcoHome Lab: Advising 'accidental' heat pump users

A photo of a Panasonic heat pump user interface

Taking place on Thursday 15 February, this EcoHome Lab session will be a bit different to the usual deep dives into data and advanced performance - we're looking to establish general best practice guidance for less technical audiences.

Our primary interest here is in 'accidental' rather than 'enthusiast' heat pump users, such as those living in private or social rented homes or those who've purchased a property with an existing heat pump and may be struggling.

We have a couple of contributors so far:

Carbon Co-op will update on participatory research with social housing tenants on their experience of transitioning to heat pumps
Trystan Lea (HeatPumpMonitor.org) will discussing his analysis of the Electrification of Heat data and what it reveals about usage issues.

But we are interest to hear from others! If you think you have something to contribute on this topic, get in touch and we can add you to the list!

Reach us at heatpump@carbon.coop.

Final Energise Workshops

We have three upcoming Energise workshops in the final events of our project. If you haven't already attended these events, we would highly recommend taking part to learn more about your home and how to tackle common energy issues.

DIY Draught Proofing - 8 February
Master Your Heating Controls - 8 February
Tackling Damp and Mould Parts 1 and 2 - 15 February.

Positive Climate News

A photo from space of the world at night at the cusp of dawn

We know that this time of year can be a bit bleak. Whilst we won't deny the scale of the problems we are facing, sometimes it can be helpful to reflect on the victories, and positive news over the last year.

This blog from Good Energy looks back at 2024, and some of the positive climate stories from across the UK and around the world.

Now, it is just up to us to make 2025 even better.

Find out more

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The Best Energy And Climate Books By Women Authors In 2024

This article pulls together ten influential books on climate change, energy, and sustainability published in 2024 by leading women authors. Covering a range of sometimes contrasting topics and viewpoints, this is a good place to start reading if you want to hear from women on the cutting edge of climate change.

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