From Top-Down to Bottom-Up: The Changing Flow of Knowledge in Heating

Helping YOU find good heating engineers. We share case studies from engineers in the Guild of Master Heat Engineers to help people find top installers, help gas and oil engineers increase their knowledge around heat pumps, and provide a solution for third-sector professionals to understand the industry better.

Overview

this edition explores:

• How information once flowed smoothly through a direct-employed heating industry, illustrated by the town gas to natural gas conversion

• How the shift to a largely self-employed workforce and thousands of manufacturers made clear information harder to distribute

• How knowledge now spreads through social media, WhatsApp groups, meetups and informal networks

• How the Guild of Master Heat Engineers and the wider heating family are helping strengthen best practice across the industry

There are a couple of things that would define a perfect outcome for our industry: consumers receiving consistently good work across boilers, heat pumps, PV and batteries, and manufacturers remaining strong and sustainable because thousands of people work in them and rely on them. In a market this crowded the second outcome may not always be possible. Competition has meant that information within the industry has not always been as accurate or as clear as it should have been. This is understandable in a busy and competitive environment with thousands of manufacturers. The first outcome, consistently great work for consumers, is something we can genuinely work towards.

For many decades the heating industry operated through clear and centralised communication because it was a predominantly direct-employed industry. Information moved through a structured hierarchy where everyone belonged to the same organisation. The town gas to natural gas conversion is a perfect example of how well that system worked. Around 13 million homes were converted in only ten years because information flowed smoothly from Watson House to the regional gas boards, then to technical directors and finally to engineers.

Crucially, this clarity reached right down to the very bottom rung. An apprentice could learn a new method directly from a chargehand or foreman on a Monday and then, on Tuesday, find themselves explaining that new method to a fully qualified fitter. That is how fast and clean the knowledge transfer was. When the entire workforce is part of a single structure, information does not just flow downwards, it flows everywhere.

When the industry shifted towards self-employment in the 1980s the communication model changed completely. Today most engineers are sole traders. The industry grew rapidly and became extremely diverse, with thousands of products, brands and technologies arriving on the market. Homes were changing too, with the boom in new bathrooms, new kitchens and new heating systems. Trade media remained valuable but were not designed to carry the more technical or scientific best practices that engineers increasingly needed. Disseminating accurate information across such a heterogeneous workforce became far more complex.

Today information moves in a very different way. Social media is part of it, but so are WhatsApp groups, private forums, local meet-ups and the informal networks that engineers build with one another. Not every great engineer is on social media, and they do not need to be, because knowledge now spreads across many different channels. A good idea can be shared in one place and quickly reach engineers elsewhere through the connections they already have. Information now moves from the bottom up as much as from the top down, and it moves quickly among people who care about getting things right.

This is exactly why the Guild of Master Heat Engineers exists: to recognise engineers who consistently demonstrate best practice to their peers and who show a genuine passion for lifelong learning. Courses matter, but passion matters more. The Guild will grow organically, involving engineers who value skill, curiosity and improvement. And over time it will help consumers find the engineers who truly care about getting it right.

This industry is also a remarkably large and interconnected family. Engineers, gas network teams, manufacturers, technical departments, sales teams, marketing teams, PR companies, training providers and many others all depend on one another. We do very different jobs, but like organisms in a mutualistic relationship we each rely on the other to thrive. Our work overlaps, our careers overlap, and many of our relationships stretch back decades. It is one of the most unique things about the heating world.

And now this family is being looked at more closely than ever. Government, think tanks, charities, analysts and increasingly knowledgeable consumers are scrutinising how our industry works. For years the heating world was mostly invisible unless you were inside it. Now it is front and centre.

That visibility brings pressure, but it also brings opportunity. We have the chance to show how much skill, care and dedication sits inside this industry and to improve the way knowledge flows so the work in people’s homes gets better and better.

If we keep learning from one another, keep sharing best practice and keep recognising the engineers who lead by example, the future of the heating family looks very bright indeed.

Thanks to the Patrons

The Guild of Master Heat Engineers is supported by our Patrons.

Learn more about our Patrons here.

Have a great week everyone.

Nathan

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