Free heat pump training app
Learn heat pumps on your phone: the water side
A free heat pump training app for plumbers and career changers: how a heat pump moves heat, heat loss, radiators at lower flow temperatures, hot water, commissioning and faults, in short lessons.
- 350+ practice questions
- 1 part free to start
Our heat pump lessons teach the knowledge side of the water work: heat loss, flow temperatures, radiators, hot water, commissioning records and water-side faults. They don't make you MCS certified or F-gas qualified, and they're learning content, not a qualification.
Have a go
0Why is heat output greater than electrical input possible?
Tap an answer
A free heat pump training app on your phone
No card, not a trial, nothing to install. Start as a guest and sign up later if you like it.
What’s free and what’s in Plus
- The first part of the course
- Plain-English topic guides and the glossary, with no account
The later parts need Plus, our paid upgrade.
Learn heat pumps online, one short lesson at a time
Five minutes is enough: on a break, on the bus, before bed.
- 1
Learn it
Each new idea is explained on a short card before you're asked about it.
- 2
Try it
Quick questions, a few minutes at a go. Get one wrong and you see why.
- 3
Keep it
Questions you got wrong come back later, and a daily streak keeps you at it.
The heat pump course
Five parts, from how a heat pump works to faults, grants and the job. The first part is free.
Part 1 · free
How Heat Pumps Work
How a heat pump moves heat instead of making it, the sources it draws on, what COP and SCOP mean, and where the refrigerant side starts.
Part 2
Heat Loss and Design
How much heat each room loses on a cold day, why that sets the size of the heat pump, and how radiators and underfloor heating work at lower temperatures.
Part 3
Hydraulics and Hot Water
Flow rates, buffers and frost protection on the heating side, then hot water: cylinder coils, legionella and the unvented safeguards to recognise.
Part 4
Installation and Commissioning
Siting the outdoor unit, controls that avoid short cycling, then cleaning, filling and the records that make a system traceable.
Part 5
Servicing and Faults
Water-side faults and the specialist ones to hand over, then grants by nation, what MCS is and isn't, and how people get into the work.
Heat pump topics
Plain-English guides to the questions people ask most.
- How Heat Pumps WorkHow does a heat pump work?A heat pump doesn't burn anything to make heat. It uses electricity to move heat that's already outside, in the air or the ground, into the home's heating water.
- Heat Loss and DesignHeat loss: how big a heat pump does a house need?A heat pump is sized from how much heat the house loses on a cold day, room by room, not from the size of the old boiler.
- Heat Loss and DesignDo radiators work with a heat pump?Yes, if they're big enough. A heat pump works best with cooler water, so a radiator gives out less heat than its label says, and some rooms need a larger one.
- Hydraulics and Hot WaterHot water with a heat pumpMost heat pump homes store hot water in a cylinder. The heat pump heats it through a coil, at lower temperatures than a boiler, so the cylinder has to suit it.
- Installation and CommissioningCommissioning a heat pump systemCommissioning proves the system works as designed and leaves a record of how it was set up. The water side comes first: clean water carries heat.
- Servicing and FaultsHeat pump grants and MCS, nation by nationGrant support depends on where the home is. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements.
Heat pump practice questions
350+ practice questions across the course. Try free heat pump questions by topic, with no account.
Is heat pump work right for you?
Most heat pump installers start as plumbers or heating engineers. The water side is careful plumbing done to a design; the refrigerant and electrical work belong to specialists.
How to become a heat pump installer
Most people add heat pump training to plumbing or heating experience, then work for or with an MCS certified business. Our guide explains the routes in.
Keep exploring
The words the course uses, practice questions and the career routes.
An app or a course?
Straight answer: it's the theory and the practice questions. You still need hands-on training.
What this app does
- ✓ Explain the theory in short lessons, then ask you about it
- ✓ Bring back the questions you got wrong, so they stick
- ✓ Show you what the trade involves before you pay for a course
- ✓ Fit round work, college or an apprenticeship
What it can’t do
- ✗ Teach your hands the job. That takes practical training and real work.
- ✗ Assess you, or give you a qualification or certificate.
- ✗ Give you MCS certification. MCS certifies installation businesses, not learners.
- ✗ Let you work on the refrigerant circuit. In Great Britain that needs an F-gas qualification where the refrigerant is an F gas; Northern Ireland has its own F-gas rules.
How to add it to your home screen
No app store needed. It's a web app, so you add it straight from your browser.
Android (Chrome)
- Open this page in Chrome.
- Tap the ⋮ menu at the top right.
- Tap Add to Home screen (it may say Install app), then confirm.
iPhone or iPad (Safari)
- Open this page in Safari.
- Tap the Share button.
- Tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
It opens full screen from its own icon, like any other app. You still need an internet connection for lessons.
Questions about the free heat pump training app
- Is the heat pump training app really free?
- Yes. The first part is free, with no card and no trial clock. The later parts need Plus, our paid upgrade.
- Do I need to download anything?
- No. It runs in your phone's browser, so there's no app store and nothing to download. You can add it to your home screen with the steps on this page.
- Does it work offline?
- Not yet. Lessons need an internet connection.
- Will it get me a qualification?
- No. It teaches the knowledge side of the water work. It won't make you MCS certified or F-gas qualified, and it's learning content, not a qualification. Recognised heat pump courses come from training providers, often with an awarding body.
- Does it cover heat pump grants?
- Yes, by nation. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales only, not Scotland or Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own grant and loan support through Home Energy Scotland, and Northern Ireland has its own arrangements. The lessons explain what each asks of an installer, and point you to the official pages.
- Who checks the content?
- Everything is being checked by our team, and if you report a mistake from a lesson, we fix it.
- Is it for beginners or apprentices?
- Both. It starts from zero, and if you're already at college or on an apprenticeship you can use it to revise the theory.