New Energy UK report highlights the people, training and supply chain investment needed to deliver the UK’s clean heat transition
tepeo has been featured in Energy UK’s new report, Clean Heat: Jobs and skills for the future, which explores the jobs, skills and supply chain opportunities created by the move to low-carbon heating.
The report looks beyond the technology itself and focuses on something just as important: the people needed to make clean heat work in real homes, from installers and service engineers to manufacturers, trainers, designers and supply chain specialists.
For tepeo, it is a timely reminder that the transition away from fossil fuel heating will not be delivered by products alone.
It will be delivered by skilled people, practical training and a heating industry with the confidence to offer homeowners more choice.
Clean heat is a jobs and skills opportunity
Energy UK’s report sets out the scale of the opportunity ahead. The Government’s Warm Homes Plan includes £15 billion of public investment into lowering energy bills through energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies. According to the report, this could help unlock £38 billion of total investment over the next four years. That investment has the potential to create skilled, rewarding jobs across the UK.
Some will be in installation and maintenance. Others will be in manufacturing, engineering, product design, training, logistics and the wider electricity system needed to support electrified heat.
This is an important point. Clean heat is often talked about as a technology challenge, but it is also a workforce challenge. The UK will need more people with the skills to design, install, explain and support a wider mix of low-carbon heating systems.
The skills gap needs attention
The report also highlights the barriers that could slow progress. These include an ageing installer workforce, complex training routes, limited awareness of clean heat careers, and the cost of retraining for people already working in the heating industry.
Many heating engineers have spent years working with gas, oil or LPG boilers. Asking them to move into low-carbon technologies is not just about handing them a new product manual. It means giving them the right training, support and confidence to understand how different systems work, when they are suitable, and how to explain them clearly to customers.
That matters because installers are often the people homeowners trust most when making a heating decision. If the industry is going to help more homes move away from fossil fuels, installers need to feel confident in the full range of options available.
Thermal storage enters the clean heat conversation
One of the most encouraging parts of the Energy UK report is the inclusion of thermal energy storage systems, including heat batteries.
Thermal storage is an important part of the clean heat mix because it can help homes and businesses use electricity more flexibly. Instead of using electricity only at the exact moment heat is needed, thermal storage can store energy as heat and release it later. This matters for households, but it also matters for the wider energy system.
As more heating, transport and industry move to electricity, flexible demand will play an increasingly important role. Technologies that can shift energy use into cheaper, lower-demand periods can help support a smarter, more resilient grid. Heat batteries are part of that conversation.
From gas boiler experience to heat battery expertise
As part of the report, Energy UK spoke to Chris Tulk, Regional Field Service Manager at tepeo, about working with heat battery technology after years in the traditional heating industry.
Chris has been part of tepeo for nearly three years, giving him first-hand experience of how the ZEB has developed from an innovative idea into a real heating solution being installed in UK homes. Before moving into heat batteries, he worked with traditional gas boilers, so he understands both sides of the transition: the familiar systems installers know well, and the newer clean heat technologies they are now being asked to learn.
In the report, Chris describes the move from gas boilers to heat batteries as “surprisingly straightforward” once the core principles are understood. He also talks about how refreshing it is to work on something that feels like the future, after years in an industry where many boiler models have changed very little.
For experienced heating professionals, clean heat should not feel like starting from scratch. There are new products to learn, new customer questions to answer and new standards to understand, but many of the core skills remain rooted in good heating knowledge, careful installation and practical problem-solving.
Chris’s experience shows that with the right training and support, installers can bring their existing expertise into clean heat and build confidence with new technologies. The challenge now is making sure those skills are supported, updated and valued as the heating industry changes.
Why tepeoPRO matters
tepeoPRO is our installer programme, designed to support heating professionals with the training, resources and technical guidance they need to install and support the ZEB heat battery boiler with confidence. It gives installers access to product knowledge, installation guidance, technical support and practical resources before, during and after an installation. Because a successful clean heat transition depends on more than innovation: It depends on the people delivering that innovation in homes across the country.
Good installation builds trust. Good training builds confidence. And good support helps installers recommend the right solution for the right home.
Building confidence in clean heat
Energy UK’s report makes one thing clear: the UK’s clean heat transition is a major opportunity, but it will only succeed if skills and training keep pace with ambition. That means supporting existing heating engineers to upskill, encouraging new people into the sector, investing in UK manufacturing and making sure low-carbon heating careers are visible, practical and rewarding.
We are proud to be included in the report and pleased to see heat batteries recognised as part of the wider clean heat skills conversation.
Most of all, we are proud of the people helping make the switch possible – from our field service team and tepeoPRO installers to the engineers and manufacturing specialists building the ZEB here in the UK.
The future of heating needs better technology. But it also needs skilled hands behind it.