Both heating and air conditioning installers can expect to benefit from the opportunities thrown up by convergence of the two sectors in heat pumps, according to Garry Broadbent.
The heat pump is a product that sits between two different industries - heating and air conditioning - and, consequently, the installation opportunities are attracting interest from both.

Indeed, both have a strong claim to take the upper hand in driving the heat pump market forward.

The air conditioning industry has successfully been specifying, installing and maintaining ac and VRF systems (ie., air-to-air heat pumps) in the commercial sector for decades. However, in the main, the ac industry has had minimal exposure to water-based systems and no experience within the domestic heating sector or in the provision of hot water.

Professionals in the heating industry, on the other hand, clearly have a great deal of experience providing heating and hot water. However, they lack the refrigeration system experience of the ac industry.

So which industry is more suited to developing the heat pump market?
That is a difficult question to answer. However, the highest level of interest at present is from the heating industry. So, it would seem that the opportunities presented by heat pumps are currently being recognised more by the heating fraternity than by the air conditioning industry.

We see a mix of attendees from different industries attending our training courses. The mix over the past 24 months has, however, been a constant majority of heating installers with a lower number of attendees from refrigeration and air conditioning; normally, there are in the region of four times more heating companies attending than air conditioning providers.

However, this appears to be out of balance and I believe the situation will become more equal as the air conditioning and refrigeration industry becomes aware of the opportunities provided by heat pumps.

This will probably happen mainly as a result of the increasing awareness of the benefits of specifying and installing a water-based heat pump system within the commercial sector which is clearly a market more aligned to the average air conditioning company's normal operations.

It remains to be seen if this observation proves to be correct. However, it is clear that heating and air conditioning are converging on the heat pump market from two very different directions.

MCS installer accreditation will sit as a definite requirement for a company approaching this market from either a heating or air conditioning perspective. The MCS review and consultation process will dictate if the experience and skills required in order to gain MCS accreditation will suit one industry more than the other.

Regardless of this though, the heat pump opportunity looks to be significant, whether the company is from a heating or air conditioning background.

It is clear that there is now a definite momentum developing within the heat pump market, which will undoubtedly drive interest from both sides.

Time will tell as to which industry will take a lead or whether the skills and experience from each sector will balance out to the mutual benefit of both.