Ms Margie McCarthy:

The heat loss indicator study should provide an initial review by summer of next year. We need a two-year process for us to get full results but there is another part to this. Like the Deputy said, the SEAI has a behavioural economics unit. The unit has done an awful lot of work examining the operation of heat pumps once installed. That issues are: what role does the heat pump installer have in driving those behaviours and how can we create better awareness among homeowners on how to operate this technology? Quite a central point of that is the installer. An installer should not just install the technology but spend a bit of time explaining to people how to use the system, which is an aspect on which the behavioural unit has done a good study. That aspect directly impacts on the efficiency of the pump, how that affects an electricity bill and the comfort of one's home. Like the Deputy mentioned, a heat pump creates a different type of heat as it is across the home as opposed to just being central points of heat.

The behavioural piece is about how to help people once a heat pump is installed and when it is being installed. The heat loss indicator survey is about whether we can get people and a grant level, and eligible for a grant, in a home that may be less efficient than is currently required for a grant. Next summer we will have an initial reading from the survey but we will not have the final study.