“Nathan is brilliant at making the complicated simple…” Amber Rudd (Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 2015-16)
BetaTalk is an award winning podcast for Local Authorities, Social Housing Groups, Think Tanks, Government, Journalists, Consultants, Developers, Gas, Oil and Heat Pump engineers and the general public.
It is hosted by Nathan Gambling who’s family have been involved with heat pump technologies for nearly half a century.
“Nathan is one of the UK’s clean heat leaders, so I always watch him closely…” Chris Stark (former CEO of the Climate Change Committee and Head of UK Gov. Mission Control)
The podcast features guests from the policy world as well as some of the UK’s remarkable heating engineers. It discusses challenges and opportunities with decarbonised heating.
In this episode of BetaTalk, host Nathan welcomes heat pump expert Graham Hendra to discuss his latest project: an AI-driven platform called Energy Donkey, developed in collaboration with Planet Devices.
Designed to replace frustrating online forums and standard LLMs that mix reliable and poor advice, Energy Donkey leverages a curated repository of verified engineering data and real-time operational metrics. The system functions across three distinct service levels:
- Free Homeowner Advice: Answers standard consumer questions regarding heat pump suitability, noise, and installation requirements using verified technical data.
- Direct Unit Control: Interfaces directly with heat pump hardware via a small monitoring device, allowing users to check operational statuses, schedule setback modes, set spending limits, and automate weather compensation using natural language prompts.
- 24/7 Field Tech Support: Provides installers and engineers with instant, model-specific diagnostic rules and fault-code guidance around the clock, bypassing long manufacturer hold times.
Operating on a freemium, pay-per-use credit model using ”carrots,” Energy Donkey reduces routine inquiry loads for manufacturers while offering real-time performance tracking, predictive maintenance alerts, and expert technical assistance.
Learn more about heat pump heating by following
Nathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky