A consortium of businesses led by smart energy tech pioneers Chameleon Technology has secured Government funding to develop innovative heat pump optimisation technology, designed to encourage consumer adoption of the cleaner and greener heating upgrade.
Chameleon Technology, alongside partners Evergreen Energy, University of Salford – Energy House, EnAppSys and TalkTalk Telecoms, has been awarded £763k funding by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to deliver the Total Home Optimisation Management (THOM) project.
THOM will see a collaborative approach to testing heat pump optimisation as part of the government’s Heat Pump Ready Programme, which aims to increase public awareness of the cost saving and environmental benefits of heat pumps.
Simplifying and clarifying heat pump potential for consumers
Heat pump installation is currently a long and involved process. Through the development of tools that are simpler to engage with and use, the THOM project aims to mitigate and ease some of the burden. Investment in the technology will lead to increased uptake of heat pumps by consumers being better equipped with a greater awareness of their own energy and heating needs.
The project involves Chameleon Technology working closely with its partners to utilise smart energy insights from existing data from real homes. This research will help to improve access to heat pump technology, embedding heat pumps as part of a wider smart home set-up serving a more flexible grid.
The project will create a heat pump specialist Home Energy Management System (HEMS) supported by a full-package software solution. This will help customers understand and maximise the benefits of their heat pumps, whilst reducing energy bills and carbon emissions.
Smart meter and occupancy data from within the home will be used to develop insights into the fabric efficiency before installation. All outcomes will be gathered into AI solutions to streamline the heat pump installation, reduce any survey requirements, improve system performance and offer minimum impact to the energy consumer. The aim is to increase the customer and installer confidence around the technology in each installation.
Heat pump hesitations
Currently, heat pump installations are yet to reach the rate required to meet the Government’s target rate of 600,000 installations per year by 2028. In 2021, less than two per cent of UK homes had low-carbon heating systems, with around only 50,000 heat pumps installed that year.
For households looking to upgrade outdated, inefficient domestic boilers, the heat pump installation journey involves several engineer visits to assess the feasibility of a heat pump and correctly size the system. This evaluation process doesn’t always take into account the widely varying routines and lifestyles of different customers.
Chameleon Technology and its project partners are developing a fully integrated app to integrate smart meter data, router data (for room occupancy) and smart thermostat data, with internal data analytics to provide comprehensive and accurate individual home energy usage insights.
The app will give users direct insights into their personal household energy usage, adjust and manage their home energy set-up, and provide a simpler route for the sizing and installation of a heat pump. Introducing an ivie Bud in-home display to the home allows live energy data to be gathered, for efficiency to be calculated with the resultant score tested against known requirements for a heat pump.
Testing is to be conducted on customer groups and under a controlled environment using the University of Salford Energy House to evaluate and increase the overall performance of the solution.
David Farmer of The University of Salford – Energy House Labs describes the importance of the project in building consumer confidence: “Installing air source heat pumps that are inefficient or difficult to control could damage consumer confidence and the delivery of a Net Zero housing stock. This project represents an important step in demonstrating the potential for data to improve the rollout of domestic low and zero carbon technologies.”
About the NZIP
The Heat Pump Ready Programme forms part of the £1billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) from the government. It aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s. As a key solution for decarbonising homes, heat pumps will be critical for meeting the UK’s legally binding commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. Heat Pump Ready will support the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector.
Heat Pump Ready is aligned with other NZIP Programmes, in addition to Ofgem’s Network Innovation Fund (NIC) and the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. Heat Pump Ready is managed by the Carbon Trust with support from Ipsos and Technopolis.
