Over the last three years, national consumer organisations have run the CLEAR-X project, which aimed to shift consumers across Europe to renewable energy sources, and to make it easier for them to choose energy efficient products.
At the heart of this project was a series of collective purchase campaigns in products such as solar panels, air conditioners and energy efficient tumble dryers.

With an ongoing energy and climate crisis and a surge in demand for renewable heating, a sister project has been born: welcome to the world, CLEAR-HP.

The “CLEAR” project series, now in its fourth iteration, stands for “Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy Ambition Response”. Unsurprisingly, “HP” refers to the renewable heating device that is at the heart of this project: the heat pump.

The idea behind the project is multi-layered. First, interested consumers will be educated on heat pumps: the products themselves, and their suitability for each consumer’s home. Along with a process of educating consumers on how to make their homes heat pump-ready, they will then be offered the chance to participate in a collective purchase campaign, which aims to bring down the price and simplify the process of both purchase and installation.

This service will be offered to consumers across Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia & Spain. Depending on the market, on the local climate and on product availability, consumers will be offered either an air-to-water or air-to-air heat pump.

The project is overseen by The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), with product testing conducted by International Consumer Research & Testing (ICRT), collective purchases coordinated by DECO PROTeste, and with direct input from the European Heat Pump Association.

For further information, check out https://www.beuc.eu/clear-hp