Explore every episode of the podcast Turning Down the Heat

Turning Down the Heat is the Heat Engineer Software podcast, bringing together installers, trainers and industry voices for open conversations about the challenges, opportunities and changes shaping the heating industry.

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What’s really holding the heat pump industry back — technology, training, red tape, or the industry itself?
In this episode of Turning Down the Heat, Ben Duckworth sits down with award-winning plumbing and heating engineer Craig Gilhome to talk about how the trade has changed, where heat pumps fit into its future, and what needs to happen next.

Craig is the 2025 National Installer of the Year, Vice President of CIPHE, founder of the Low Temperature Design North East Learning Group, and a trainer at Warmur Academy. He has worked in plumbing and heating since 1989, giving him first-hand experience of everything from gas and oil to the first wave of renewables and today’s growing heat pump market.

Craig shares what he’s learned along the way, including why the guesswork has to stop, why some training still leaves installers unprepared for the real world, and why more gas engineers should start building low-temperature heating skills now.

They also get into the realities of working in renewables: the admin burden, the importance of proper heat loss and system design, the case for hands-on mentoring, attracting the next generation into the trade, and whether installers calling out bad work on social media could actually be damaging confidence in their own industry.

And despite the challenges, Craig believes this could be one of the best times ever to be a plumbing and heating engineer.

Connect with Craig Gilhome
Craig Gilhome Plumbing and Heating Engineer
Email: craiggilhome@btinternet.com
Phone: 07912 293290