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Heat technical research

Technical research covering aspects of low carbon heating technologies.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Published:
7 August 2013
Last updated:
10 July 2026
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  1. Published the suitability of reversible air-to-air heat pumps for UK domestic use.

  2. Published the Homes for Net Zero research programme.

  3. Published the Green Homes Grant (GHG) SMETER project report.

  4. Published 'Smart Meter Enabled Thermal Energy Ratings (SMETER): validation methodology'.

  5. Published 'Air-to-Air Heat Pumps: literature review'.

  6. Added report on domestic hot water use in the UK.

  7. Added two reports: Cost Optimal Domestic Electrification (CODE) and Cooling in the UK.

  8. Report on heat storage and distribution systems published.

  9. 2 new reports added to page: Electric and bioenergy heating in off-gas grid homes: evidence gathering / Biomass boilers: measurement of in-situ performance.

  10. Added 3 publications: Alternative heat solutions: converting a town to low carbon heating, Global biomass markets, and Hydrogen emission potential: literature review.

  11. Added report: Methodology to assess methane leakage from anaerobic digestion plants.

  12. 'Electric heating in rural off-gas grid dwellings: technical feasibility report' added.

  13. 5 recent reports added to collection.

  14. Updated reports on 'Monitoring of non-domestic RHI ground-source and water-source heat pumps' and 'Heat Pumps in Smart Grids' Added a new report on 'Renewable energy from reversible air-to-air heat pumps'.

  15. Updated with new evidence gathering reports

  16. Addition of RHPP evaluation, assessment of the potential for combined heat and power and district heating and cooling in the UK, non domestic RHI ground source and water source heat pump reports, and heat pumps in district heating reports.

  17. First published.

Low carbon and renewable heating technologies are going to be essential to meet the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and predecessor department, Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), funded or part funded a number of research projects in this area, covering amongst other topics:

  • field trials of domestic heat pumps
  • biomass boiler methodology studies
  • heat metering accuracy testing

Biogas technologies

Biomass boilers

Boilers

Heat meters

Heat networks

Heat pumps

Heat storage and distribution systems

Heating in off-gas grid homes

Hydrogen

Solar heating

Waste heat

Comparative studies

Other

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