The project will look to overcome an initial barrier to Low Carbon Technology (LCT) uptake by producing Connection Readiness Indicators so customers can easily understand how ready a property is to connect an LCT, and give them the ability to request a Distribution Network Operator (DNO) proactively carry out works to upgrade fuses/cut-outs/looped services and remove the potential for delays when they eventually look to install an LCT. This will help customers avoid facing a “distress purchase” scenario where their existing heating system fails and only then are they made aware of the timescales involved in upgrading fuses/cut-outs or removing looped services. The project also aims to demonstrate how having access to data on incumbent heating systems can help DNOs improve network investment activities.
Benefits
Using a project cost of £555,575 to deliver the LCT Connection Readiness Indicator, we can expect a benefit of approximately 5 times the investment made to deliver the solution in SSEN-D network areas.
In addition, we should highlight the expected additional benefits which are harder to quantify but no less important – any delays in replacing a failed heating system can result in customers taking days off work to hurriedly research possible solutions and get checks carried out, possibly face financial burden from finding alternative accommodation or temporary heating/hot water solutions if they were determined to wait for the required works to get a HP, and experience the stress of the overall situation. Ultimately customers may simply opt for another fossil fuel heating system, which delays their and GB’s transition to low carbon heating.
Learnings
Outcomes
The project contacted over 500 homes across Swindon and south Oxfordshire as part of the field trials to attempt to engage customers and encourage them to visit the project webpages which allowed them to check their readiness.
To manage customer engagement and potential checks and upgrade works triggered as a result of the field trial, the customers were targeted in three tranches.
Tranche 1 – targeted 199 homes across Swindon and south Oxfordshire, and letters were sent mid-September 2025.
Tranche 2 – targeted 202 different homes across Swindon and south Oxfordshire, and letters were sent mid-October 2025.
Tranche 3 – recontacted 302 homes from Tranches 1 and 2, along with 103 new homes across the trial areas, letters were sent mid-November 2025.
Alternative approaches were taken - Tranche 1 and 2 letters encouraged engagement purely on the benefits laid out in the letter and on the website.
Tranche 3 aimed to incentivise engagement through the offer of vouchers - £10 for customers to submit a photograph of their cutout and service cable to allow us to validate our modelling and confirm their setup, and £20 to participate in an interview regarding their sentiment of the engagement approach and letter/website content.
The results of visits to the website indicate the level of customer engagement:
Total views: 327
Number of postcodes searched: 127
Number of addresses selected: 89
Number of postcodes not recognized (i.e. postcodes not in the trial area): 42
The number of customers requesting their results be emailed to them: 4
The number of customers submitting a photograph to allow us to confirm their readiness (as their results were modelled): 8
A detailed report covering 20 interviews with customers regarding their perception of the engagement materials and the website is being produced and will provide further insights later in 2026.
Lessons Learnt
The project experienced issues communicating with customers, as a result of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR) being deemed to treat texts to customers as marketing, forcing reliance on letters.
We believe this was a contributing factor to the low level of customer engagement with the field trial. More insights will be gathered in the customer research report due later in 2026.
