Heat as a Service: Benefits, Barriers, and Evidence Needs
Heat as a Service provides a way to help reduce the carbon footprint of heating. This is important because heating is the largest single user of energy in the UK. Progress on heat decarbonisation is not on track.
Project leader
Dates
March 2019 to June 2020
Sponsors
UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC)
Partners
Universities of Exeter, Manchester, Sussex and London South Bank
Description
Using Heat as a Service, customers sign up for a ‘heat plan’ that sets a heating schedule for their home, hour-by-hour and room-by-room. The plan uses a smart heating control system. The first local UK trial of heat as a service launched in February 2019.
There is limited evidence about how such business models might develop. Thus, we know little about their role in decarbonisation. We have scant knowledge of the challenges of consumer engagement, and regulatory/policy needs for a wider roll-out.
Thus, in this project, we will assess the needs of key stakeholders around the impacts of, and barriers to, offering heat as a service.
Identifying stakeholders
We will review existing evidence on impacts of, and barriers to, heat as a service. We will identify potential stakeholders, including:
- the commercial/industry/technology sector
- consumer representatives
- policymakers at national and regional level
- academics
Discovering and addressing stakeholder needs
We will then consult these stakeholders. We will ascertain their evidence needs about implementation of heat as a service. We will particularly explore social and environmental impacts and barriers to widespread adoption.
We will report on the evidence needs. We will then develop further research collaborations and outputs to address the needs.