The UK's largest independent industrial refrigeration engineering company.
Dr. Robert Lamb
Group Sales & Marketing Director
rlamb@star-ref.co.uk
Temperature Controlled Storage & Distribution
Brewing and Distilling
The Star Refrigeration Industrial Heat Pump Research Survey aimed to assess the technical readiness of UK industrial sectors for the adoption of high-efficiency heat pumps and heat recovery technologies. The survey yielded key insights across a range of industries into current heating systems performance, metering practices, heat demand characteristics and organisational motivations regarding decarbonisation.
Substantial opportunities for energy cost reduction and carbon savings were revealed across multiple sectors, particularly Food & Beverage, driven primarily by underutilised or inefficient heating systems and limited metering visibility. The analysis highlights the need for improved data collection and monitoring, to make energy savings, support informed decision-making and enable the transition to low-carbon industrial heating technologies.
Industrial heating is one of the most significant contributors to operational expenditure and carbon emissions across UK manufacturing. As companies seek to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and meet regulatory, environmental and ESG expectations, a transition to high-efficiency electric heat pumps and heat recovery systems is becoming increasingly central to achieving these goals.
The Industrial Heat Pump Research Survey was distributed nationwide and targeted organisations across the UK manufacturing industries, including Food & Beverage, Dairy, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, and Paper & Pulp.
Respondents provided technical, operational and strategic information relating to:
Respondent sectorsRespondents provided technical, operational and strategic information relating to:
a) Data completeness and implications for analysis
Many industrial sites (78%) still lack clear visibility of their installed heating capacity and annual energy use, highlighting a broader challenge around data availability and energy monitoring.
This data gap has two consequences:
This finding alone underscores the case for improved metering and sub-metering practices across industry. Across all industries, only 33% of organisations stated that they sub-metered their energy use.
Proportion of Sub-Meteringb) Estimated heating system utilisationBased on the figures provided regarding heating system size and annual heating energy use, the analysis indicates that current system utilisation averages just 24%.
This result suggests that:
One of the first steps in correctly sizing modern heat pumps and thermal storage systems is understanding utilisation profiles.
c) System age in years
Count of System Age (All Industries)The majority of responders to the survey (31.9)% – reported heating systems that are over 20 years old.
In this 20 + category, the overwhelming majority are in the Food and Beverage industry ( 53%). The remaining 47% is made up of Meat and Poultry, Paper and Pulp, Agriculture, Healthcare, District Heating, Bakery and Pharma combined.
d) Sectoral profile: Food & Beverage
The Food & Beverage industry accounted for over one-third of complete responses, aligning with its role as the UK’s largest manufacturing sector and one of its largest industrial gas consumers.
Key characteristics include:
Previous research by Star Technical Solutions and the TICR Project aligns with these findings, identifying long-standing issues in energy monitoring and suboptimal operational conditions across Food & Drink sites. In 2024, STS undertook detailed site surveys of 20 industrial sites across the Food & Drink, Chemicals and Pharmaceutical sectors as part of the TICR investigation into energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from the Transport, Industrial and Commercial Refrigeration sector. It was found that no Food & Drink site surveyed was operating at optimal condition – a picture reinforced by the heat pumps survey.
e) Temperature and steam requirements: alignment with heat pump capabilities
The temperature requirements reported across all sectors closely correspond to the output ranges of modern industrial heat pumps:
Steam usage was also characterised by moderate pressure requirements:
Count of Steam Pressure / BargThese findings indicate a substantial proportion of industrial heat demand is technically suitable for:
f) Sub-metering was reported by 33% of respondents. Analysis shows that sites with sub-metering demonstrate somewhat higher interest in low-carbon technologies:
Sub-metered sites also reported generally larger system capacities compared with non-metered sites, suggesting a correlation between organisational scale, data visibility, and readiness to invest in decarbonisation.
g) Industry motivations for decarbonisation
When asked to identify the primary motivators for adopting heat pumps or heat recovery technologies, respondents cited:
The narrow margin between these two drivers indicates that financial and environmental considerations are now almost equally weighted in industrial decision-making. Many organisations also referenced obligations relating to CSR, future regulatory compliance, and long-term energy security.
h) Applications of industrial heat use
Across all sectors, heating was primarily used for:
Manufacturing and Pharmaceuticals reported the greatest requirement for space heating and HVAC, while Meat & Poultry and Brewing reported relatively low space heating demand. This differentiation helps identify opportunities for targeted heat pump deployment.
4. Discussion
a) Data gaps as a systemic barrier to decarbonisation
The survey results reveal a variable landscape in which a significant portion of industry lacks the operational data required to quantify heat demand, assess system performance, or evaluate the business case for heat pumps. This gap directly affects industries’ ability to transition to low-carbon technologies.
b) The scale of financial opportunity
Even modest improvements in system efficiency—achievable through monitoring, recuperation of waste heat, or deployment of heat pumps—can produce substantial cost savings, particularly in energy-intensive sectors.
c) Technical feasibility
The strong alignment between reported temperature requirements and heat pump capabilities indicates that technical barriers to deployment are lower than commonly perceived.
d) Industrial heat pumps as part of a broader optimisation ecosystem
Technologies such as Star’s Ethos (digital twin optimisation) and LoRaWAN-based monitoring can significantly accelerate the identification of inefficiencies and provide the data foundation required for system redesign.
Ethos is able to work in conjunction with data collection technology such as LoRaWAN, a wide area network technology with low installation costs that does not require wiring. This covers the whole facility, from gas and water meters to door switches and battery charging. With Ethos, the two sets of data upload to the cloud in parallel, providing a total view of site.
The survey provides strong evidence of:
These findings underline the need for UK industry to prioritise data visibility, monitoring, and feasibility assessment as essential steps toward both cost reduction and decarbonisation.
The Industrial Heat Pump Research Survey was conducted by Star Refrigeration to generate sector-specific insights into industrial heating practices, energy usage, and the readiness of UK manufacturers to transition to low-carbon heating technologies.
The findings are based on responses from around 100 major manufacturing sites across multiple sectors. Together, these industries account for a significant share of UK manufacturing output and are among the most energy intensive parts of the economy.
For further detail on industrial heat pump applications, heat recovery and performance optimisation, visit www.star-ref.co.uk/
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