Are UK homeowners "culturally ready" to embrace home electrification? To find out, we need to compare the UK to its peer markets over time. Our latest data from the Homeowner Electrification Tracker Study (HETS) shows that the UK still has a significant mountain to climb.
We developed the Electrification Readiness Index (ERI) to measure the cultural appetite for the transition. The index is calculated by balancing the "Advocates" (those eager to transition) against the "Detractors" (those resisting it).
The ERI is based on a deep dive into homeowner attitudes toward the environment, sustainability, and common myths surrounding heat pumps and EVs. This allows us to segment the market into six distinct groups - ranging from the most enthusiastic (Electrification Trailblazers and Pragmatic Adopters) to the Denying Rejectors.
The UK’s lower score of 11.0 is driven by a smaller base of advocates compared to France or the US. And a fairly large group of Denying Rejectors - the people most resistant to change and the transition in general. They're included as they are very much part of the cultural milieu and their existence in large number means there's a ready audience for the myths and scepticism seeded by large section of the media and politics.
While the headline index suggests the UK is trailing, the time-series data offers a more nuanced, positive trend. While readiness has softened slightly in France and the US over the past year, the UK has remained stable.
Most importantly, we are seeing relatively strong growth in the "Pragmatic Adopters" segment. These are the homeowners who aren't necessarily "green warriors" but are looking at the logic of PVs, batteries, and EVs. For brands looking to scale, this is the crucial group to watch; they represent the tipping point where electrification moves from a niche interest to a mainstream reality.
There’s vastly more detail available to HETS subscribers. Our members have immediate access to a powerful dashboard covering 44,000 interviews across 11 waves of research. It allows you to track the entire demand side - not just the tech, but the energy suppliers, tariffs, and flexibility services that homeowners are actually choosing.