YOU INSPIRE ESBE – CRAIG GILHOME
2026-10-19
When Craig Gilhome entered the plumbing and heating trade in 1989, the world looked very different. Controls were limited, cast-iron boilers were commonplace and heat pumps were rarely seen in British homes.
Today, Craig works almost exclusively with renewables, specialising in complex, bespoke domestic projects. And although he has experienced enormous change during his career, he believes the pace has accelerated dramatically in recent years.
– The last three or four years have been crazy. If you want to stay at the forefront of the trade, you have to keep training and keep up to date.
Craig first ventured into renewables around 2005, installing solar thermal systems and later his first ground-source heat pump. Today, his projects are often less about simply installing a heating system and more about solving a complex problem.
– Quite often, I’m not competing with other installers. It’s more: “We’ve got this complex problem. Can you solve it?”
YOU INSPIRE ESBE – CRAIG GILHOME
Back to doing the maths
According to Craig, one of the biggest challenges with heat pumps is also surprisingly old-fashioned: getting the calculations right.
When he revisited heating system design six or seven years ago, he realised that much of what he was learning had already been covered during his training in the early 1990s. For years, forgiving gas boilers had allowed installers to rely more on rules of thumb. With heat pumps, correct system design, flow rates and pipe sizing have once again become crucial.
– If you don’t do the maths, you might get it right or you might get it wrong. If you do the maths, you know it’s going to work, A plant room can therefore look immaculate and still not perform as it should. Sometimes, Craig says, installers simply “don’t know that they don’t know.”
And that is precisely why he believes curiosity and humility matter so much.
The gold nuggets you won't find in a manual
Craig is passionate about passing his experience on to other installers. His advice to anyone entering the heat pump sector is to spend time working alongside someone who has already done it.
– You get all the little snippets, the little gold nuggets that you’re not going to get in the classroom.
Sometimes the best learning even happens during the coffee break, when installers start comparing experiences and asking each other how they solve things.
His advice is simple: build a network of people you trust, ask questions and don't be afraid to admit when you don't know something.
– Be humble. Don’t be frightened to ask questions.
Craig Gilhome was named the UK’s Best Heating Installer and Best HVAC Installer at the Heating Installer Awards 2025. Photo: Heating Installer Awards. Read more about Craig’s award-winning work.
Craig Gilhome visiting ESBE in Sweden together with fellow UK heating installers – an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences across borders.
Quality means reassurance
The same philosophy applies to the products Craig chooses. One of his award-winning heat pump installations included ESBE mixing valves, and for him, quality is ultimately about reassurance.
– What you’re buying is quality and reassurance for your customer. You’re buying something that isn’t going to break down or cause problems. And in the unlikely event that something does happen, you know ESBE is going to sort it out for you.
Craig has also visited ESBE in Sweden and believes manufacturers and installers have much to learn from each other. Product developers know their products; installers know what happens when those products meet reality.
– If everybody is humble, listens to everybody else’s point of view and nobody thinks they know everything, we end up with a better product.
Craig's Narnia moment
Craig knows from personal experience how much the right teacher can change your perspective.
Six years ago, he attended a course with heating engineer and trainer Kimbo Betty. Craig describes it as his “Narnia moment” – a reference to C.S. Lewis’s famous wardrobe, opening the door to a whole new world.
The course made him recognise gaps in his own knowledge and inspired him to dig deeper. Today, the circle has closed: Craig is now one of the trainers teaching Kimbo’s course himself.
– I think it’s about realising your weaknesses and working on them. It’s about not being afraid not to know things and then going out and getting the knowledge.
For Craig, sharing that knowledge is also a way of giving something back. The industry has given him a good life and helped him put his daughter through university. He doesn't want decades of experience simply to disappear when he eventually leaves the trade.
Craig is still curious, still learning and now helping others to do the same. And perhaps that is the best knowledge of all: the kind you pass on. We are inspired and impressed.
Thank you for the conversation, Craig! 😊
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