What Homeowners Are Searching For - Finding Retrofit
Uswitch data reveals what retrofit devices are being searched for versus what is actually being installed.
Using Uswitch demand data as adoption intelligence, not a popularity contest
By 2050, four in five homes that will exist in the UK have already been built. That figure is now familiar, almost ritualised, but its implications remain poorly absorbed. Retrofitting Britain’s housing stock is not a technical challenge alone; it is a behavioural one. And behaviour leaves traces.
Search data is one of those traces.
New research published by Uswitch in January 2026 analysed monthly search volumes across Google, TikTok, Amazon and YouTube to identify the energy-saving and low-carbon upgrades UK homeowners are most actively looking for. Solar panels top the list by a wide margin. Heat pumps, insulation, smart controls and biomass follow. At first glance, this appears to be a useful snapshot of consumer priorities.
It is more valuable than that - if it is interpreted correctly.
Because what this data actually reveals is not what homeowners should install, nor even what they will install, but where uncertainty, aspiration, misinformation and missed opportunity coexist.
Search demand tells us what homeowners want. Retrofit success depends on what they understand.
Solar panels: saturation awareness, stalled adoption
Solar panels recorded an average of 84,900 Google searches per month, with similarly high engagement across social platforms and retail channels. No other technology comes close. Yet Uswitch’s own survey data shows that only 38% of homeowners either own or would consider adding solar panels.
This is not an awareness problem. It is an integration problem.
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Solar companies are now established enablers in decarbonising homes - now funded by the Warm Homes Plan
Solar has become culturally legible. Homeowners know what it is, roughly what it looks like, and broadly what it promises. But search interest is not converting into confident decisions because solar is still framed as an isolated product rather than part of a household energy system.
Search data here exposes a gap between visibility and viability.
Most solar conversations occur without reference to:
- winter generation versus heating demand
- interaction with heat pumps or hot water systems
- storage, export tariffs, or self-consumption
- the limits of solar in poorly insulated homes
For retrofit professionals, this matters because it defines the difference between selling equipment and designing outcomes.
Solar is popular because it is visible. Retrofit works when visibility is paired with system literacy.
Wind turbines: aspirational searches, constrained reality
Wind turbines rank second in Uswitch’s index, despite being unsuitable for the vast majority of UK homes. This is not irrational behaviour; it is symbolic behaviour.
Homeowners searching for domestic wind are not primarily looking for a turbine. They are looking for energy autonomy. They are responding to volatile electricity pricing, grid mistrust, and a sense of powerlessness in the energy system.
Search data here reflects emotional demand, not technical feasibility.
For retrofitters, this is a warning sign. When aspiration is not met with credible alternatives, it curdles into scepticism. Wind interest should not be dismissed; it should be redirected into honest conversations about what autonomy actually looks like in UK housing: demand reduction, storage, load-shifting, and realistic generation.
Some searches are not product intent. They are signals of frustration.
Underfloor heating: timing is everything
Underfloor heating remains the third most searched energy-saving measure, despite declining growth. This is revealing. UFH is not primarily an energy upgrade; it is a renovation-timed decision.
Homeowners search for underfloor heating when floors are already coming up, when extensions are being planned, or when layouts are being reconsidered. These are precisely the moments when retrofit interventions are most cost-effective - and most often missed.
Search data shows interest. Retrofit failure occurs when intervention arrives too late.
Installed without emitter sizing, flow temperature planning, or future heating strategy, UFH can lock homes into sub-optimal systems for decades. Used well, it can future-proof a property for low-temperature heat.
The difference lies not in the product, but in who is present at the decision point.
Smart thermostats: control without comprehension
Smart thermostats rank fourth, despite relatively low ownership. Uswitch notes that only 35% of homeowners own or would consider installing one, and that such devices do not directly reduce bills.
This is an important corrective. Controls do not save energy in isolation. They expose behaviour.
Search interest here reflects a belief that efficiency can be achieved without disruption. That belief is understandable — and often wrong. Without proper commissioning, balancing and system understanding, smart controls frequently amplify dissatisfaction rather than reduce it.
For retrofit professionals, smart thermostats should be framed not as savings devices but as diagnostic tools. They reveal thermal response, overshoot, zoning failures and fabric weaknesses. Used honestly, they can prepare households for deeper retrofit. Used lazily, they undermine trust.
Biomass boilers: niche demand, high uncertainty
Biomass boilers rank fifth in demand, buoyed by rural searches and the availability of a £5,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for off-gas homes. Uswitch estimates annual running costs at £400-£600, but installation costs and practical trade-offs remain poorly understood.
Search interest here reflects risk aversion, not enthusiasm.
Homeowners are searching for something familiar in form, even if fuel changes. But biomass brings logistical complexity, space requirements, air quality considerations and long-term fuel uncertainty.
For retrofit professionals, credibility lies in restraint. Biomass should be presented not as a default alternative to heat pumps, but as a context-specific solution with clearly defined boundaries.
The most trustworthy retrofit advice often results in not selling the thing being searched for.
Heat pumps and insulation: the silent mismatch
Perhaps the most consequential insight in the Uswitch dataset is not what ranks high, but what does not.
Low-temperature radiators, floor insulation, thermal storage and cavity wall insulation all record significantly lower search volumes than headline technologies. Yet these measures determine whether heat pumps work, whether bills fall, and whether comfort improves.
Homeowners are not failing to search. They are failing to know what to search for.
This is the structural adoption problem facing retrofit. Demand is forming around visible, named products, while success depends on invisible, system-level changes. Left uncorrected, this gap produces poor outcomes that then circulate back into public scepticism.
What this data means - and how it can be misused
Uswitch’s research is valuable precisely because it should not be treated as a shopping list. It is a map of attention, not a blueprint for action.
Used well, it can:
- identify moments of homeowner openness
- reveal where misunderstanding clusters
- help retrofitters intercept decisions earlier
- inform education, not just marketing
Used badly, it reinforces a product-led model that has already failed too many households.
Adoption fails when popularity is mistaken for readiness.
The data isn't the end of the story
Nearly two-thirds of homeowners told Uswitch that upfront cost is the biggest barrier to retrofitting. Sixty percent said they do not understand the financial support available. Forty-eight percent described retrofit as disruptive, confusing or complex.
Those figures are not an indictment of the public. They are a diagnosis of the system.
The lesson from this dataset is not that people need more choice. It is that they need better sequencing, better explanation, and better evidence of what works in real homes.
Search data shows us where people are knocking. Retrofit professionals decide whether someone answers the door - and what they say when they do.
Data from this article was provided by Uswitch