According to research evaluated by Jello PR and JL Creative, the UK is 95% more interested in heat pumps than its European neighbours.
Interest in heat pumps slowed considerably across Europe in 2024, with France and Germany showing a combined Google search volume at around 5% of equivalent UK searches.
Two of Europe’s largest countries typed ‘heat pump installation’ into Google just 550 times at the start of 2024, compared with over 3,000 in Britain, a trend that was repeated in January 2025.
This data echoes European Heat Pump Association figures which show heat pump sales across 13 European countries fell by 47% in the first six months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. In contrast, the UK has seen a surge in people purchasing heat pumps – HPA data reveals a 63% increase in 2024.
Overall, Europe’s heat pump markets are much more mature, with take-up widespread so demand has naturally decreased over time. HVAC businesses – from manufacturers to training providers and installers – should view growing sales figures and the consistent state of heat pump traffic on Google as extremely positive.
To ensure a stake in this increasingly buoyant market, small businesses, which make up a large proportion of the UK’s construction and building trades, must take steps to compete with bigger, national providers.
Jonny Lawrence, Director for JL Creative, advises that “businesses with optimised Google My Business (GMB) profiles and strong online reviews see higher rankings in local search results. Therefore, local SEO and tailored digital marketing will help smaller HVAC providers reach customers in their area, levelling the playing field with larger companies.”
A market for all types of heating
Despite a steady interest for all things heat pump related, gas boilers are still a popular choice, with the term ‘gas boilers’ searched for in equivalent volumes to ‘heat pump installation’ and more than double ‘air source heat pumps’ specifically. What this means for the installer base is that being multi-skilled is the best way to ensure success now and in the future. At present, over 70% of households in England and Wales use mains gas as their primary central heating source, which means gas boilers will still be with us for many years to come.
Crunching the numbers from Google search and industry trends indicates a positive outlook for the building services sector in 2025 and beyond.