Sales of heat pumps are forecast to increase significantly as the UK emerges from the pandemic and the government continues to look for greener and more efficient solutions to tackle both the climate crisis and energy inflation.

Data during the Covid-19 pandemic shows that 28,000 heat pumps were being installed annually in the UK with sales doubling every three to five years. Whereas new builds accounted for most of these sales, retrofits made up around 30%, often as a result of off grid consumers switching from oil boilers to heat pumps.  

It comes as no surprise therefore that a number of key players in the heating manufacturing sector are beginning to position themselves for a heat pump boom.

One of these is Viessmann, which recently announced a management buyout of Pacifica Group’s home services division to expand its footing in the UK heat pump market.

Viessmann is a major supplier of heat pump systems in Europe and Pacifica Home Services is involved in installing and maintaining heat services, as well as supplying insulation services to house builders, housing associations and utilities companies in the UK.

The move follows Vaillant’s announcement last year that it was to expand UK manufacturing for heat pumps in response to record demand. The company broke the news with a call for more support for installers so that they can be trained with the skills needed to fit the new technology on a huge scale. This call to upskill the industry was inspired by the government’s goal to sell 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.

Vaillant is expanding its Belper plant, which currently produces around half a million natural gas and LPG appliances, to accommodate manufacturing of the aroTHERM plus air-to-water heat pump. 

One of the companies to have most recently invested in the heat pump market is Leeds based heating and cooling engineering firm Clade. The firm has announced the expansion of its factory to produce natural refrigerant heat pumps, claiming that the demand for CO2 heat pump will create up to 300 jobs over five years. The expansion has already created 30 new jobs at the site and increased heat pump production by 400%.

The company’s CMO Tim Rook said that decarbonising heat was “one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions in the race to Net Zero and natural refrigerant heat pumps are the future of green heating.”

Mr Rook added: “Heat is 40 per cent of the UK's carbon footprint and heat pumps are the only viable solution, readily available and able to be deployed at scale quickly enough to make a difference.”

Clade has partnered with Siemens to develop connected assets which they believe will be essential for commercial buildings below 500 kW capacity which they believe could benefit from demand-response, potentially saving 25% on electricity bills.

You can read more about the heat pump revolution in our article Is the heating sector ready for the heat pump revolution?

You may also be interested in our blog Green plan sparks heat pump jobs boom

For the latest heating sales vacancies check out our heating sales jobs​