‘Try this and see if it works for you’: A new perspective on household improvisation and responses from heat pump supply-side actors

Abstract

This paper innovates in the relationship between sustainable technology suppliers and users, using the example of heat pumps. Heat pumps are necessary for energy transitions in Europe. However, in everyday life in households, heat pumps are often not used as the technology developers intended. This discrepancy presents a challenge for heat pump supply-side actors such as manufacturers and resellers. This paper first presents a design perspective on user improvisation and highlights its value for innovation. We synthesized the perspective in a sensitizing video. We then employed this video to engage with nine supply-side professionals in the Dutch heat pump value network and conducted semi-structured interviews with them to understand their responses to improvisation. We categorized their responses and identified the factors influencing the choice of response. We identify ten different responses and nine motivating factors. We then interpret the responses in the light of our design perspective on user improvisation to highlight areas for socio-technical innovation in the relationship between the heat pump supply and use sides. This innovation can support heat pump uptake and satisfaction and thus improve the quality and rate of renovations.