Between now and the end of the year, Daikin will be offering the free training at 11 of its Sustainable Home Centres across the UK. Installers who complete the full-day course will leave with the skills and knowledge to offer hybrid heat pumps to homeowners looking to start their decarbonisation journey and save on their energy bills.

Hybrid heat pumps combine a gas boiler and heat pump, which is powered by renewable energy extracted from the air. The two appliances work together to provide heating and hot water, providing the ideal replacement for a combi boiler as a first step towards introducing renewable heating technology into the home.

Hybrid heat pump systems can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 55% compared to a traditional gas boiler and have been proven to deliver up to a 50% reduction in energy bills in the UK.

Iain Bevan, commercial manager of heating & renewables at Daikin UK, said: “The UK’s transition to low carbon heating is underway, and it’s vital that installers have the skills and knowledge to be a part of it.

“Hybrid heat pumps are an attractive solution for installers and homeowners who want to go green, combining the power of a heat pump with the familiarity of a boiler. Their installation, commissioning and service is similar to traditional gas or oil boilers, as is their operating menu, thermostat unit and heat output.”

The manageable upfront cost of a hybrid system is one of its key selling points, as is the easy installation process, which minimises disruption to the customer.

And while hybrid heat pump systems can be installed with a household’s existing boiler, to help installers, Daikin has launched an offer whereby every system includes a new, high-performance boiler, free of charge.

According to Daikin, hybrid technology is best-suited to smaller homes in urban areas, that are likely to have a combi-boiler, and where the shell of the building is not energy-efficient enough to be heated by a fully renewable system.

As the efficiency of the building is improved and upgraded over time, the hybrid system’s operation mode can gradually be shifted to more renewable heat pump share.

Mr Bevan added: “We firmly believe in hybrid heat pumps’ potential to support a faster, easier and more affordable transition to low carbon heating in this country – not to mention the business opportunity they represent for installers.

“Last year, around 1.1 million combi boilers were installed in the UK; that’s our target market. We look forward to welcoming the next generation of installers to our Sustainable Home Centres to complete their hybrid heat pump training, and we will encourage them to join our Sustainable Home Network if they haven’t already, so we can send leads their way and help them enjoy a competitive advantage.”