The Work to Make a Heat Pump Work-Investigation into the Adoption of Domestic Heat Pumps through Social Practice and Complex Systems
2025. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS '25).
Sarah Wilkie, Qiushuo Cheng, Cicely Mathews, Abdelrahman Otify, Fin Schofield, Ellen Weir, Paul Marshall & Aisling O'Kane.
To reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the UK government is replacing domestic gas boilers with heat pumps, necessitating an understanding of the challenges faced by users in adopting this new technology. We surveyed 50 early adopters of heat pumps and conducted 23 follow-up interviews to explore their experiences of installation and adaptation. Using Thematic Analysis, we identified key themes within the framework of social practice theory, highlighting important implications for enhancing heat pump installation and adoption processes. Our findings suggest that improved infrastructural support, user education, and adaptive design can enhance engagement and satisfaction, shaping future policy and design strategies for renewable home energy systems. We aim to further understanding on the complexities of heat pump adoption and offer strategies to support a smoother transition to sustainable heating within the home.
Full paper
https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3715335.3735461
Citation
Wilkie, S., Cheng, Q., Mathews, C., Otify, A., Schofield, F. J., Weir, E., … O'Kane, A. A. (2025). The work to make a heat pump work–investigation into the adoption of domestic heat pumps through social practice and complex systems. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (pp. 131–142).
BibTeX
@inproceedings{wilkie2025work, title={The Work to Make a Heat Pump Work--Investigation into the Adoption of Domestic Heat Pumps through Social Practice and Complex Systems}, author={Wilkie, Sarah and Cheng, Qiushuo and Mathews, Cicely and Otify, Abdelrahman and Schofield, Fin J and Weir, Ellen and Marshall, Paul and O'Kane, Aisling Ann}, booktitle={Proceedings of the ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies}, pages={131--142}, year={2025} }