Picturing life with a heatpump
Climate Visuals and Nesta are excited to be launching the first images produced as part of a new resource of compelling, engaging, accessible and real-life images of heat pumps from across the UK.
Heat pumps are a proven and effective low-carbon heating technology. They can produce three to four times more heat than a gas boiler for the equivalent energy, and they are powered by electricity, which can come from renewable sources, allowing them to play a major role in helping to decarbonise our homes. They are suitable for use in the majority of UK homes. Despite this, and the potential benefits to consumers’ immediate lives, heat pumps are relatively unknown in the UK, with just 360,000 installed in homes compared to 26 million gas or oil boilers.
All too often, photographs of heat pumps show the object but don’t tell the story. They depict a box at the side of a building, often with awkwardly posed models standing beside it. They don’t show the real world potential of heat pumps that audiences can relate to and see themselves as a part of, or the diversity of installers and users. These new images highlight the real lives that heat pumps are a part of now, helping to normalise the technology and demonstrate the benefits being felt by the households using them across different houses and lifestyles around the country.
High-quality photographs are complex, expensive and time-consuming to produce. This means we see more and more poor quality, cliched images that tell the wrong story. To engage viewers and build understanding and awareness, images must show tangible and relatable benefits of heat pumps to audiences. They need to show real lives that are feeling these benefits now. They must do this in a way that is inviting, appealing and achievable for the viewer. If they can do this, photographs can contribute to the normalisation of heat pumps in our cultural conversations.
This project highlights engaging, real stories of heat pumps in peoples’ lives through photography and makes them available to communicators who might otherwise not be able to access them. The first images, depicting three stories in Somerset, Surbiton and Lewisham, are available now through the Climate Visuals library, free for non-profit, editorial and educational use. They form a tangible, accessible resource for communicators and help to develop the visualisation of heat pumps, and the benefits they can bring, in the public mind.
A family home in Somerset
Nick and Cate Pitkin live in a detached four bedroom house in Somerset, south west England. Their brick property was built 12 years ago and is double glazed and well insulated in the roof and walls. Motivated by a desire to reduce their impact on the climate and to reduce their dependence on traditional fuel market prices, the couple, who are retired, installed their Vaillant Aerotherm Plus heat pump in February 2024.
“We can now afford to heat our home at a consistent temperature 24/7 and it is this consistency that is of benefit to both ourselves and our home” explains Nick when asked how living with the system has affected their lives. “A combination of [the] heat pump and solar panels (which the couple installed in 2024 too) means over a year we only pay a small amount for electricity each month.”
When it comes to managing the system, Nick describes this as “very simple, the apps available to support the running of the system mean we can make adjustments easily and our home feels comfortably warm 24/7”.
A heat pump service in Surbiton
Dan Curran, a supply chain and logistics consultant, lives in a 1930’s, solid brick detached family home in Surbiton, South West London. Interested in sustainable living and improving his environmental footprint, Dan installed a heat pump, a Samsung 12kW R290 Monobloc, in 2024, along with solar panels and a battery.
Since its installation, the heat pump has “created a more consistent and nice temperature” than the familiar hot and cold cycle of gas heating. How has living with a heat pump affected his life? “In a sense it hasn’t because it just works” he says, “it shouldn’t be seen as a life-changing decision” before adding “on the other hand I’m a bit obsessed with it!”
Heat pump Engineer Kirstin McPhee works for Your Energy Your Way, carrying out installation, maintenance, and servicing of air source heat pumps. Originally training as a plumber, McPhee “wanted to work on more sustainable and future-proof systems” and chose to upskill with additional training on renewable heating technologies and qualifications. “Working with heat pumps is rewarding but also challenging at times” McPhee says, “I enjoy the problem-solving side of it and knowing that what I’m doing is helping reduce carbon emissions. It’s also good to be in a growing sector that’s only going to get bigger”.
A new installation in Lewisham, South East London
These images and more from the stories featured are available to browse and download from the Climate Visuals library now. View the full collection at the link below and keep and eye out for further image releases soon!
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