CXC, working on behalf of the Scottish Government, are investigating the potential to trial subscription type offerings for heat pumps in Scotland.
The background
The Scottish Government have ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions driven by residential heating. Air source heat pumps are one option for delivering a reduction in carbon emissions but sales to date have been low compared to boilers and there are several perceived barriers to uptake.
The key questions
The key questions CXC wanted LCP Delta to address are:
- Should the Scottish Government support the development of subscription type offers for heat pumps?
- What propositions are already being offered in the UK and across Europe, and what lessons can be learnt?
- What is the level appeal across industry stakeholders for such offerings and what should any market trials look to assess the potential for heat pumps on subscription?
What was needed
It was important to understand what type of offers were already active or had been tested across Europe. This included heat pump bundles, ie. including maintenance as well as monthly subscription type offers. It was also necessary to establish the appeal and barriers with a range of industry stakeholders before options for proposed market trials could be developed.
What we did
We conducted a comprehensive desktop research exercise to understand the subscription propositions for heat pumps (and other heating systems) available across Europe – leveraging deep existing market insights inhouse. We partnered with Changeworks to execute a series of stakeholder interviews to qualify assumptions and gauge appeal before developing a proposed approach to trial such propositions in the market.
The LCP Delta difference
Our deep understanding of the heat market and, specifically, the heat pump sector provided a strong, evidence backed baseline position. We were able to utilise our strong network of contacts in the heating sector and vast knowledge of innovative subscription and ‘as-a-Service’ business models to inform the basis of our trial proposals.
