Air Source Heat Pump Costs UK (2026)
An air source heat pump costs £8,000 to £14,000 installedin the UK before any support (Ofgem's actual recorded average is about £12,500 for an 8kW system, January 2026). After the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, most households in England and Wales pay £500 to £6,500 out of pocket; Octopus Energy's installs average about £4,460 after the grant, and plenty of quotes land near £1,000. Prices are indicative as at June 2026, with 0% VAT on residential installations until 31 March 2027 already baked in. One air-to-water system replaces your boiler entirely: whole-home heating plus hot water.
What affects the cost of an air source heat pump?
The installed price depends on your home at least as much as on the hardware. Understanding these factors helps you compare quotes accurately and avoid overpaying.
The grant does the heavy lifting
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme takes £7,500 off an air-to-water heat pump in England and Wales (£9,000 for oil and LPG heated homes from 21 July 2026). Scotland has its own Home Energy Scotland grant and loan; Northern Ireland currently has no equivalent.
Heat loss and unit size
An MCS heat-loss survey, part of every grant-backed install, sizes the system room by room. Typical homes need roughly 5-14kW of heat output; bigger or leakier homes need more output and cost more.
Radiators and flow temperature
Heat pumps run most efficiently at lower flow temperatures, so some homes need a handful of radiators upsized. High-flow-temperature R290 models can avoid a re-pipe in many retrofits.
Combi boiler? Add a cylinder
A heat pump heats water into a hot water cylinder. If you currently have a combi boiler there is no cylinder, so the conversion adds one (plus the space for it). This is a real cost line that pushes quotes toward the top of the range.
Brand and installer
Eight brands have a strong verified UK presence, from value (Samsung EHS) to premium German engineering (Vaillant, Viessmann). Octopus installs its own Cosy units at disruptive prices. Quotes for the same job can differ by thousands, so compare.
0% VAT until 31 March 2027
Residential heat pump installations are zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027 (then 5%). It is applied automatically by the installer and is typically worth £1,000-£3,000 versus standard VAT.
Cost by brand (before the grant)
Specifications and pricing are indicative for the UK market as at June 2026 and shown before the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. Confirm current models and exact pricing with your MCS-certified installer.
Compare all 8 brands side by side →Grants and costs by region
England and Wales use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme; Scotland runs its own Home Energy Scotland grant and loan; Northern Ireland currently has no grant equivalent. Out-of-pocket figures below reflect each region's support.
Heat pump vs gas boiler: running costs
The maths that matters is pence per kilowatt-hour of heat. On the Ofgem cap, electricity costs about 25p per kWh and gas 5.74p, rising to 7.33p on 1 July 2026. A modern gas boiler turns gas into heat at roughly 90% efficiency; a heat pump turns electricity into heat at 380-450% (a SCOP of 3.8 to 4.5). Divide the rates by those efficiencies and the two systems land in the same band, with the heat pump at or below the boiler once the July rise hits.
| System | Cost per kWh of heat (est.) | Annual cost, ~10,000 kWh of heat (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pump (SCOP 3.8-4.5) | 5.6 - 6.6p | £560 - £660/yr |
| Gas boiler (90% efficient), Apr-Jun 2026 cap | ~6.4p | ~£640/yr + standing charge |
| Gas boiler (90% efficient), from 1 July 2026 cap | ~8.1p | ~£810/yr + standing charge |
| Electric storage heaters (flat rate) | ~25p | ~£2,500/yr |
Estimates at Ofgem price cap averages (electricity ~25p/kWh; gas 5.74p/kWh Apr-Jun 2026 and 7.33p/kWh Jul-Sep 2026; the cap changes quarterly) for a home needing about 10,000 kWh of heat a year. Heat-pump time-of-use tariffs can cut the heat pump figure further, but tariffs change, so compare current offers. Actual costs depend on your tariff, home and usage.
What are you replacing?
Replace a Gas Boiler
The classic UK switch. £7,500 off through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and the gas unit rate rises 27% on 1 July 2026. Combi homes add a cylinder.
Replace Storage Heaters
The biggest savings story: a heat pump delivers the same heat for around a quarter of the electricity of resistive heating.
Replace an Oil or LPG Boiler
Off the gas grid? Oil and LPG homes get the higher £9,000 grant from 21 July 2026, and shed the tank and deliveries.
Learn more
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Explained
Exactly how the £7,500 grant works, who qualifies, the 21 July 2026 oil/LPG uplift, and the gas-vs-heat-pump calculator.
Find Local Installers
What to look for: the BUS grant requires an MCS-certified installer, and any gas work must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an air source heat pump cost in the UK in 2026?
A typical air-to-water installation costs £8,000 to £14,000 before support (Ofgem's recorded average is about £12,500 for an 8kW system, January 2026). The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant brings most households in England and Wales to £500 to £6,500 out of pocket; Octopus installs average about £4,460 after the grant and many quotes land near £1,000. Combi-to-cylinder conversions and radiator upgrades push toward the top of the range. Figures are indicative as at June 2026.
How does the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant work?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 toward an air-to-water or ground-source heat pump in England and Wales (£2,500 for air-to-air, £5,000 for biomass), rising to £9,000 for oil and LPG heated homes from 21 July 2026. Your installer must be MCS-certified and applies on your behalf, so the discount comes straight off your quote. The EPC-certificate precondition was removed on 28 April 2026, and the scheme has been extended to 2030. Scotland runs the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan instead; Northern Ireland has no equivalent.
Is a heat pump cheaper to run than a gas boiler?
At Ofgem cap rates (electricity about 25p/kWh, gas 5.74p rising to 7.33p/kWh on 1 July 2026), a heat pump at SCOP 3.8-4.5 delivers heat at roughly 5.6-6.6p per kWh, against roughly 6.4-8.1p for a 90%-efficient gas boiler. That puts the heat pump at or below gas-boiler cost on the cap, and cheaper again on heat-pump time-of-use tariffs (tariffs change, so compare current offers). These are estimates, not quotes.
Do air source heat pumps work in cold UK weather?
Yes. Modern units hold useful output well below freezing and are widely installed in Scotland and the north of England. Efficiency dips on the coldest mornings, when units run short defrost cycles, which is why correct sizing matters: the MCS heat-loss survey that comes with every grant-backed installation sizes the unit and radiators to your actual home, not a brochure average.
Do I need to replace my radiators?
Sometimes some of them. Heat pumps run most efficiently at lower flow temperatures than boilers, so the heat-loss survey may recommend upsizing a few radiators. High-flow-temperature R290 models from brands like Mitsubishi, Vaillant and Viessmann can work with existing radiators in many retrofits. If you have a combi boiler, the bigger line item is adding a hot water cylinder, which a heat pump needs.
What happens to gas prices?
On 1 July 2026 the Ofgem price cap gas unit rate rises from 5.74p to 7.33p per kWh, a 27% jump in a single quarter that lifts typical bills around 13%. Nobody can promise where rates go after that (the cap changes quarterly), but the July step is locked in, and it shifts the running-cost comparison further toward heat pumps.
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Air Source Heat Pump Cost Calculator
See what you pay after the grant, plus running-cost and payback estimates for your region