Nesta

Over 750 people booked a visit to see a heat pump in 2024 🎉 Earlier this year we launched Visit a Heat Pump - an online service to connect people to heat pump owners in their local area, so they can see this low-carbon technology in action. Since then people up and down the UK have visited a heat pump, with many going on to install their own following a visit. 🗞️Read more about the service in Codrina Cretu's column for Elemental: https://bit.ly/3VPYTWu 🏡 Interested in visiting a heat pump? Find a heat pump near you ➡️ https://bit.ly/4gBt0Jb

This year we invited policy experts, politicians, business leaders, researchers and academics to answer a simple question: how to make good things happen? 📍 Our new event series looked at impactful policy initiatives from around the world to understand the secret to their success and discover learnings for UK policymakers. 🇸🇬 In our most recent event we explored how Singapore's approach to public service leadership and governance has improved outcomes. Read our insights: https://bit.ly/49NGejD Plus, take a sneak peek at what's coming up in 2025 👀 https://bit.ly/3ZZyQi1

On the 12 days of Christmas, my heat pump gave to me: 🦃 Enough energy to roast 2,900 turkeys 🥦 5 tonnes of brussels sprouts cooked to perfection 🍮 1,500 gallons of custard warmed and ready-to-eat We calculated how much energy an average household could save over the 12 days of Christmas if they swapped their gas boiler for a heat pump, and found that a heat pump’s greater efficiency would lead to energy savings of 409 kWh. Forget two French hens, that’s enough to cook almost 3,000 turkeys. https://bit.ly/4fuEOvZ Is getting a heat pump your New Year’s resolution? 🔥 Visit https://bit.ly/4dzUFbm for free impartial information on getting a heat pump 🏡 Book a visit to see a heat pump near you with https://bit.ly/4gBt0Jb 🎄 Remember - heat pumps aren’t just for Christmas. They’re essential for the UK to reach a sustainable future with cheaper, cleaner energy for all. But more needs to be done to bring down the cost of electricity so households can see greater savings when making the switch.

What role can AI play in growing skills in the heat pump sector? Supporting heat pump installers, in particular those recently transitioning from gas boiler installations, is important to grow confidence and experience in the sector. Working in partnership with Renbee we used generative AI tools to develop an AI installer chatbot that can provide real-time support for installers on the job. By connecting to a database of heat pump manuals and training documents, Installer Pal is able to provide clear and practical answers to heat pump installation queries. https://bit.ly/4gjml6t

Living a long, healthy life shouldn't depend on where you call home - but it does. New analysis by Nesta shows the stark reality of health inequalities across the country. We brought together our research with the Office for National Statistics healthy life expectancy data and found that healthy life expectancy differs by up to 18 years between England's most and least healthy areas. While the government aims to halve the health gap between regions, our data shows the challenge ahead: https://lnkd.in/eYiwsfwN

Early years professionals have one of the most crucial jobs imaginable: nurturing young children and setting the foundation for lifelong learning. But the sector faces challenges around retention and recruitment, putting pressure on the sector. Our fairer start mission is looking for ways to support the workforce, so more children have the right support in their earliest years. Our new report has identified three ways that AI can empower early-years professionals: 📚 Enhance professional development for the early years workforce 📝 Reduce administrative burden so more time can be spent on activities that benefit children’s development 🛝 Enhance the quality of assessment and developmental activities for children, through AI-powered personalised recommendations. Find out more about how AI could empower professionals – and why it isn’t already happening: https://bit.ly/3VOi4zP

⚡ Electricity prices are disproportionately higher than gas prices - and the high levies on the price of electricity have a big role to play. Currently levies - taxes on energy bills - are unevenly distributed between gas and electricity, adding around £140 to a typical household’s electricity bill, while adding only around £50 to a typical gas bill. Taking action on levies is one of the most immediate ways that the Government can make electricity cheaper - making it easier for households to switch to low-carbon heating and alleviating fuel poverty. We recently published modelling to demonstrate how the UK Government could rebalance levies. We found it could reduce overall bills, reduce the ratio of electricity to gas prices and incentivise more households to make the switch: https://bit.ly/4f37Brh

Parenting support is one of the best-evidenced ways to improve outcomes for children, helping parents to address problems early and prevent widening gaps in attainment in the early years. The Government’s child-centred agenda offers a new opportunity to review how we approach parenting and make sure that all families who need it are able to access support. A new blog co-written by Nesta's Louise Bazalgette and Foundations – What Works Centre for Children & Families's CEO Donna Molloy reflects on the opportunity to transform access to effective, evidence-based parenting support in the UK. https://lnkd.in/ebPexdQT

The journey to getting a heat pump can be complex. For some of us, home improvements will need to be made to get us 'heat pump ready'. In a new blog, Nesta's Andrew Sissons makes the case for a two-step journey to getting a heat pump - a winter-ready service to optimise our current heating systems, and a secondary step to get us heat pump ready. https://bit.ly/4isiHZL

We welcome the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Clean Power Action Plan and its focus on renewables to deliver clean power by 2030. Read our policy plan for heat for recommendations on how we can decarbonise home heating, drawing on our extensive research: https://lnkd.in/eNtyywrX