Trialability as a Lever for Heat Pump Adoption: Insights from a Review of Field Initiatives

Heat pumps for space conditioning are a keystone technology for residential decarbonization, but their permanent installation and high upfront costs make them difficult to try out on a limited basis, hindering adoption. We reviewed 413 sources on initiatives promoting residential heat pumps to find a small minority (N = 11) that address the technology’s low trialability. By analyzing online materials for these initiatives, we identified five approaches to enhance the trialability of heat pumps– incidental exposure, virtual experience, demonstration, tour, and trial–giving consumers the opportunity to experience heat pumps before making a purchase.