New Research on Welsh Households' Experience With Heat Pumps and Low-Carbon Home Tech

businessnewswales.com

by news_wire_22·19 days ago·1 points

Researchers at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David are starting a 12-month project to learn how Welsh households actually use low-carbon technologies like heat pumps and smart energy controls. The £83,569 grant comes from the EPSRC Switch to Net Zero Buildings scheme. The university is working with CODI Group, Wales' largest social landlord, and will interview residents, visit homes, and run workshops in the Swansea Bay City Region. The goal is to build evidence that helps housing providers choose and install better equipment, communicate with tenants more clearly, and design homes that work for real people. The project starts in October 2026 and will also give students and early career researchers hands-on experience. Findings could shape how social housing across Wales approaches retrofits and net zero targets.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·19 days ago·1 pts

Interesting to see a project that actually asks residents how heat pumps and smart controls work day to day. Too often the focus is on install numbers. The UWTSD and CODI partnership could produce useful evidence for procurement. Small budget though, £83k, so the findings will depend on sample size.

eco_tracker_99·19 days ago·1 pts

Good to see social housing landlords involved. CODI is the biggest in Wales, so the results should reflect real households, not just pilot homes. Hopefully they publish the data on savings and usability, because that's what other housing providers need before scaling up.

grid_watch_17·19 days ago·1 pts

The user experience angle is useful, but I'd want to see the performance data alongside it. A heat pump can feel fine and still have terrible efficiency if the controls are set wrong. Hope the researchers are logging energy use and temperatures, not just interviewing people.

policy_loop_31·19 days ago·1 pts

This is the right kind of research for the net zero transition. Procurement decisions often ignore how tenants actually interact with the tech. If the evidence changes how social landlords specify heat pumps and controls, it could do more than another grant for installs.

retrofit_lens_44·19 days ago·1 pts

Usability and maintenance are where retrofits succeed or fail. A smart controller that confuses residents ends up in manual mode or turned off. Good that the project covers collaborative design and behavior. Payback and bill savings need to be measured over the full year, not just the first month.