This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter

Is the heat pump revolution failing to even get off the starting blocks? Only 14 heat pump grants, we learn were awarded per day last year under the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme for households. That’s paltry - at about 5,000 a year - compared to the target of 25,000 per annum.

Of course, we always knew it was going to be a troubled start, slowed by confusion, misinformation and certain realities around the costs. But nevertheless these figures suggest the campaign to win hearts and the policies to back installations are not hitting home.

Ever since, last year, I produced my Heat Pumps: Myths, Truths and Costs series in The Herald, I’ve been following the progress of this home heating transition - and going by these new figures, revealed by Swedish heat pump supplier Aira, it needs more of a kickstart.

Through a freedom of information request to the Scottish Government, Aira uncovered evidence that from financial year 2022-23 to 21 August 2024, there have been 6,322 legally committed funding agreements made to applicants for air source heat pumps.

A key reason the heat pump supplier suggests for these low figures is the challenging levels of bureaucracy around applying for the grants and loans. Aira also found that on average homeowners were taking three months to navigate the complex application process.

It’s a theory that Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell has backed up, saying, “I have so many constituents who are tearing their hair out because of the bureaucratic, slow and cumbersome HES Grant and Loan scheme. It is unfit for purpose and is slowing down what should be a rapid expansion in the market for heat pumps and other clean technologies.”

Aira has its own ideas for........

© Herald Scotland