As heat pump adoption accelerates in the UK – and considering the ambitious government targets – renewable installers are navigating a market where guidance on system design, zoning and control strategy remain mixed.
While best practice is still evolving, questions around how heat pumps should be controlled in real-world installations are becoming increasingly important, with decisions made now likely to shape system performance and homeowner experience. To support increased collaborative discussion, Resideo, the global manufacturer of Honeywell Home heating and cooling control products, has published a new White Paper exploring how different European markets are approaching heat pump control.
Drawing on insights from the UK renewables sector, alongside more established heat pump markets such as the Netherlands and Germany, the paper highlights where approaches diverge – and where common themes are beginning to emerge.
Ian Little, Resideo’s UK Business Development Manager and Heat Pump Association (HPA) representative, explains why the company has stepped further into the heat pump control conversation: “Installers are at the heart of why we have published our White Paper – they are the ones talking to consumers, giving advice and helping guide choices. So, we want to play our role in helping move the discussion forward and supporting the skills and practical application development across the industry.The reason the company has focused on the Netherlands and Germany is because the Netherlands is committed to taking 1.5 million homes off the gas grid by 2030 and Germany’s heat pump sales exceeded gas boiler installations for the first time in 2025.
The White Paper considers the questions many installers are already grappling with:
• To zone or not to zone – the White Paper outlines the Dutch experience where zoning is being successfully applied when designed correctly.
• What consumers want when it comes to room-by-room control – Resideo’s research suggests a growing preference among surveyed consumers for heating only occupied rooms. The results of Resideo’s November 2025 Thermostat Survey are based on the responses of 500+ UK and German and 1,000 Dutch adult homeowners, ages 18 and older, living in the UK, Germany and Netherlands, who completed an online survey. In the survey, 43% of the UK-based survey respondents told Resideo that for 2025/2026 winter they would focus on heating individual rooms vs the whole home.
• Could separating system control from comfort control offer a more consistent approach to managing heat pump performance – this means the heat pump’s controller would remain responsible for system behaviour while the comfort controls manage time schedules, room temperatures and zoning. The white paper ‘Practical approaches to controlling heat pumps: What installers can learn from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands’ can be downloaded online at www.resideo.com/emea/en/solutions/home-comfort/heat-pump-white-paper