Air Source Heat Pump Costs UK (2026)
An air source heat pump costs £8,000 to £14,000 installed in the UK before any support (the official median is £12,908 for a typical 8kW system, April to June 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 says its median quote was £4,064 after the grant (June to September 2026). 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 until March 2027). 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 13brands 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 from 1 October 2026, electricity costs 26.32p per kWh and gas 7.97p, up from 5.74p in April-June. 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 heat pump comes out below the boiler: roughly 5.8 to 6.9p per kWh of heat, against roughly 8.9p.
| System | Cost per kWh of heat (est.) | Annual cost, ~10,000 kWh of heat (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pump (SCOP 3.8-4.5) | 5.8 - 6.9p | £585 - £690/yr |
| Gas boiler (90% efficient), Apr-Jun 2026 cap | ~6.4p | ~£640/yr + standing charge |
| Gas boiler (90% efficient), from 1 October 2026 cap | ~8.9p | ~£890/yr + standing charge |
| Electric storage heaters (flat rate) | ~26p | ~£2,630/yr |
Estimates at Ofgem price cap averages (electricity 26.32p/kWh and gas 7.97p/kWh from 1 October 2026; gas was 5.74p/kWh in Apr-Jun 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 Ofgem cap gas rate is up 39% since spring 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 until March 2027, and shed the tank and deliveries.
Learn more
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 (the official median is £12,908 for a typical 8kW system, April to June 2026). The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant brings most households in England and Wales to £500 to £6,500 out of pocket; Octopus says its median quote was £4,064 after the grant (June to September 2026). 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 until March 2027. 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. 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 26.32p/kWh, gas 7.97p/kWh from 1 October 2026), a heat pump at SCOP 3.8-4.5 delivers heat at roughly 5.8-6.9p per kWh, against roughly 8.9p for a 90%-efficient gas boiler. That puts the heat pump 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?
The Ofgem price cap gas unit rate has risen at both of the last two quarterly resets: from 5.74p to 7.33p per kWh on 1 July 2026, and to 7.97p on 1 October 2026, 39% higher than in spring. Nobody can promise where rates go next (the cap changes quarterly), but the October rate is set until 31 December 2026, 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