Last Updated on August 22, 2026
BOXT has the best marketing of the five big UK energy installer brands compared, scoring 8.4 out of 10 on the Whito leaderboard.
Opinion and analysis. Every brand below was reviewed manually across seven marketing channels in July 2026, using publicly visible marketing activity. Scores are relative to the other brands in this comparison. Where a figure is not published, we say so.
Solar, heat pumps and EV chargers are where UK home services marketing is being reinvented. The winners have stopped selling and started publishing: fixed prices online, review counts in the tens of thousands, and cost guides that answer the £10,000 questions before a salesperson ever calls. Five installer brands, seven channels, and the playbook for any local installer.
The leaderboard
| Rank | Brand | Social | Website | SEO | Paid | Reviews | Brand | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BOXT | 7 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8.4 |
| 2 | Heatable | 6 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8.0 |
| 3 | Smart Home Charge | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7.1 |
| 4 | Project Solar UK | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6.6 |
| 5 | Effective Home | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4.9 |
Company verdicts
1. BOXT (8.4)
BOXT wins because it removed the single biggest friction point in home energy: not knowing the price. A fixed quote in minutes, boilers from £1,790, solar from £3,999, heat pumps from £4,799, next working day installation and more than 56,000 Trustpilot reviews at 4.7 to 4.8 make a £2,000 to £10,000 purchase feel low risk. The Leeds United shirt deal and national TV give it mainstream recognition no rival installer matches. Its weakness is a thinner content and email layer than Heatable. Transparency plus speed plus proof beats persuasion.
2. Heatable (8.0)
Heatable is the best marketer pound for pound: a fixed-price quote tool, 13,786 Trustpilot reviews at 4.8, three consecutive years of Which? Trusted Trader endorsement and the most distinctive voice in the sector. Its content hub is the benchmark, ranking for cost guides, boiler fault codes and a “brands to avoid” piece competitors are too cautious to publish. The ITV campaign and Think Uber, but for energy saving framing punch far above its size. For a local installer, this is the most instructive model on the list.
3. Smart Home Charge (7.1)
Proof that a niche installer can out-market national brands with helpfulness. A YouTube channel with roughly 1.2 million total views, charger comparison and cost-to-charge tools, transparent installed pricing from £774 and more than 26,000 installs create authority that paid ads cannot buy. Its 4.9 Trustpilot rating across roughly 3,600 reviews is the best in the group. It spends least on paid media and does not need to. The most realistic template for a specialist local firm.
4. Project Solar UK (6.6)
A traditional direct sales model executed with unusual discipline: more than 50,000 installs since 2010, 7,154 reviews at 4.6, lifetime warranties, TV and radio, and proper town-by-town location pages. It scores lower because the website hides prices behind a callback funnel, which modern buyers increasingly resist. Its Our Claims Explained page, built to substantiate marketing claims, is a genuinely smart trust move worth copying. Strong operation, ageing playbook.
5. Effective Home (4.9)
A volume lead generation machine rather than a marketing brand: an EDF partnership past 1,000 installs, grant-scheme funnels and 3,393 Trustpilot reviews at 4.6. But the public-facing marketing is thin: no published pricing, no content hub, no visible email programme, and third-party reviews citing follow-up gaps after surveys. It demonstrates that leads without nurture leak revenue. The cautionary tale of the five.
What the channels show
Published prices are the sector’s dividing line
The two highest scorers both lead with from prices. The two lead-gen brands that hide pricing scored lowest on website conversion. In a market where every competitor says request a quote, a published price is a weapon.
Review volume is the conversion engine
The five brands hold between 3,393 and 56,493 reviews, all at 4.6 or higher. For high-ticket purchases, buyers treat review volume as proof of survival.
Content answers the expensive questions
Heatable ranks with cost guides and fault-code troubleshooting. Smart Home Charge publishes real charging numbers, £8.59 for a full charge on an average tariff against £2.61 on an EV tariff. Write the cost guide for your service before a competitor does.
Third-party trust beats self-praise
MCS, Gas Safe, TrustMark, Which? Trusted Trader, named finance partners and FCA numbers appear across all five. One external endorsement outweighs any amount of quality workmanship copy.
Key lessons for any local installer
- Publish your prices. A from price with what it includes converts better than a callback form.
- Make reviews your main asset. Ask after every install, reply to every negative, show the live score everywhere.
- Answer the expensive questions in writing. Cost guides with real numbers and grant figures, £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme included.
- Remove survey friction. Quote from photos and questions wherever possible.
- Stack third-party trust. MCS, Gas Safe, TrustMark and manufacturer accreditations do the persuading for you.
Steal this playbook
- Systematise review collection. Text or email every customer on completion day with a direct review link, reply within 48 hours. Near zero cost, the highest return in this sector.
- Add from pricing to your top three service pages. One afternoon of work, immediate conversion lift.
- Publish one definitive local cost guide per service. Three to five guides beat a hundred thin blog posts.
- Build a simple quote and follow-up flow. A short form feeding an automated sequence: quote, proof, finance options, grant deadlines.
- Record installs on video. One phone-shot walkthrough a month. Smart Home Charge turned 89 videos into 1.2 million views; a local version needs far less to dominate a postcode.
Common questions
Which UK energy installer has the best marketing overall?
BOXT leads with an average of 8.4 out of 10 across seven channels, driven by fixed online pricing, next working day installation and more than 56,000 Trustpilot reviews at around 4.7. Heatable runs it close on 8.0 with 13,786 reviews at 4.8 and a Which? Trusted Trader endorsement three years running.
How important is Trustpilot for solar, heat pump and EV charger companies?
It is the sector’s biggest conversion lever: the five brands profiled hold between 3,393 and 56,493 reviews, all rated 4.6 or higher. A local firm with 200 plus reviews can outconvert a national with weak local proof.
Should installers publish prices online?
The two highest scorers both do: BOXT lists solar from £3,999 and heat pumps from £4,799, while Heatable lists solar from £4,995 and EV chargers from £995. The two brands that hide pricing behind callback funnels scored lowest on website conversion.
Do small installers need a big ad budget to compete?
No. Smart Home Charge ranked third overall with the weakest paid operation of the five, instead building roughly 1.2 million YouTube views, comparison tools and a 4.9 Trustpilot rating from about 3,600 reviews. Content and reviews compound; ad spend stops working the day you stop paying.
What certifications matter most in energy installer marketing?
MCS certification is the baseline for solar and heat pumps, and it unlocks the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for customers, alongside Gas Safe for boilers and TrustMark or HIES membership. The strongest differentiators are earned endorsements such as Which? Trusted Trader status.
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