Heat pump makers are ready for a rush: Will customers come?
2 hours ago Share Save Chris Baraniuk Technology Reporter Share Save
Chris Baraniuk Octopus makes heat pumps at its factory in Northern Ireland
On the day I visit Octopus Energy's heat pump factory in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, temperatures in London reached 29C. Some of the staff meeting me, who are usually based in the south of England, are beaming. It's wonderful to escape the heat, they say. And who can blame them. Climate change is making the UK hotter. In order to do something about that, decarbonising our energy systems – including domestic heating – is becoming more and more urgent. Heat pumps run on electricity, not oil or gas, and Octopus is manufacturing heat pumps of its own design right here in Northern Ireland. "It kind of gets harder as you go up – it's like levels in a game," says Patrick Doran, one of the workers here, after I view the production line.
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