Climate X Change (CXC), based at the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute at High School Yards, Edinburgh, is a Scottish Government-funded centre of expertise on climate change. CXC 'commissions research and analysis to support the Scottish Government as it develops policies on adapting to the changing climate and transitioning to net zero'.

I came across this October 2021 paper* (55pp) which offers a detailed assessment of where and why heat pump efficiency can vary widely across the heating season and in different buildings, domestic as well as non-domestic. One standout is that weak user understanding of how to operate heat pumps and weak or imprecise installation design, specification and commissioning can really impair how well they perform, albeit that heat pumps are a mature heating technology.

Poor performance, of course, hits user levels of satisfaction and user behaviour. Amongst the conclusions (at the time) from this piece of work; customer expectations need managed; strong customer support is needed from pre-sale to after-sale; the supply chain needs to focus more on tailored specification and installation, case-by-case. 

Here is the Link to the CXC paper, which carries a very useful primer on heat pump technologies.

* Courtesy of the Grange Association, Edinburgh.

END / KR