Heat pumps are an efficient way of producing heat from electricity; they operate by capturing the latent heat in the air, ground or water and using it for heating.
Heat pumps are expected to play a significant role in decarbonising heat in Scotland; the Climate Change Committee has described them as a ‘low-regrets’ option, and they feature prominently in Scotland’s Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy.
However, heat pump efficiency can vary across the heating season and in different buildings, meaning the costs and impacts on wider energy systems depend on the context.
This desk-based review looks at evidence on how heat pumps currently, or are likely to, perform in practice in Scottish buildings. The research identifies best practice relevant to Scotland and gaps in the available evidence.
The scope of the research was for both domestic and non-domestic buildings. However, the majority of the relevant datasets relate to domestic settings.
