Are heat pumps the George Clooney of the energy sector?
By confronting his research interest in people’s electricity usage patterns with his personal experience, Mike Fell realised that heat pumps suffered from an image deficit leading to slow adoption. A few sexy makeovers and an augmented reality app later, Heat Pump Chic was born. This app gives a better idea of what a heat pump is like in the home environment (including noise) and is intended to familiarise future users with this technology. And perhaps make heat pumps desirable!
Mike uses humour and everyday habits to raise awareness of wider energy and climate issues, such as the need for household flexibility and demand-side response to boost sustainability in the sector. For example, he developed the Should I Bake? website to nudge foodies into using their appliances when most of the UK’s grid electricity comes from renewable sources.
Humour, glamour, advertising and nudging, and adapting habits such as baking bread at the best times of the day… listen to this new episode.
By the way, if anybody has George Clooney’s contact, please get in touch with Mike because that could make a difference 🙂
Dr Michael Fell is a research associate at UCL Energy Institute. Mike focuses on the social aspects of energy demand flexibility and systematic review methods in energy demand research. Also, check heat pump chic on social media for your daily dose of British humour.
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