How much does a heat pump cost?

The typical heat pump cost in England and Wales is just under £13,000 installed, before the grant. After the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, most households pay around £5,400. Those are medians from government data, so half of all jobs cost more and half cost less. Below is what pushes your price up or down, and what you should see on paper before you sign.

At a glance

Heat pump cost in 2026: the real numbers

Every installation paid for by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme reports its cost, so there is better price data for heat pumps than for almost any other home improvement. In April to June 2026, the median air source heat pump installation cost £12,908, including the grant value. A quarter of jobs came in under £11,128 and a quarter over £15,627.

Prices have been flat to slightly falling. Nesta’s analysis of the scheme found the median air source installation cost £13,041 in 2025/26 in real terms, 11% lower than when the scheme began in 2022. Which? reported an average of £13,431 for October to December 2025. So if you have been quoted between about £11,000 and £15,500 before the grant, you are inside the normal range.

The government figure is the whole job, not just the box. It includes the heat pump, the cylinder, labour, and any radiators or pipework swapped as part of the installation.

Cost by size of heat pump

Size is measured in kilowatts (kW), and it is set by how much heat your house loses on a cold day. Bigger, older or draughtier homes need a bigger unit. Here are the median installed costs for air to water heat pumps paid through the scheme in 2025/26:

Notice that a small unit isn’t much cheaper than a mid-sized one. The labour, cylinder, controls and electrical work cost roughly the same whatever the size, so the heat pump itself is only part of the bill.

Why quotes for the same job differ

A spread of £9,000 to £13,000 or more for “the same house” is common, and it isn’t always a sign that someone is overcharging. Often the quotes aren’t for the same job at all. These are the usual reasons:

• Different heat loss figures. One installer measures every room; another estimates from floor area. A higher estimate means a bigger, dearer unit and more radiator changes.
• Radiators. Heat pumps send cooler water round the system, so some rooms may need larger radiators. One quote may replace three; another may replace nine.
• Design flow temperature. A system designed to run at 45°C needs bigger radiators than one at 55°C, which costs more upfront but usually less to run.
• Pipework. Narrow microbore pipes may need upsizing to carry enough water. Some installers price this in; some find out on day one.
• Cylinder and space. Replacing a combi means finding room for a hot water cylinder, sometimes with building work.
• Electrics. Some homes need a consumer unit upgrade or a new supply cable.
• Brand, warranty and aftercare. Check what each quote covers, how long the warranty runs and who services the system.

The trap is choosing the cheapest quote because it changes the fewest radiators. If the design is too optimistic, rooms stay cold or the installer turns the flow temperature up, and your running costs rise. The dearer quote that sizes radiators properly can be the better deal.

What a fair quote includes

Under the MCS heat pump design standard (MIS 3005-D), the installer must work out your home’s heat loss room by room to BS EN 12831-1:2017, and pick a heat pump that covers all of it. Ask for that on paper. A quote you can compare should show:

• The room-by-room heat loss calculation and the total in kW.
• The heat pump make, model and size.
• The design flow temperature, and which radiators will be replaced and with what.
• An estimated SCOP and yearly electricity use, from the MCS performance estimate.
• The cylinder size and where it will go.
• Any pipework, electrical or building work, itemised.
• The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant taken off the price as a separate line.
• The installer’s MCS certification number, the warranty terms and what happens at handover.

If a quote is a single price on one page with no heat loss figure, ask for the design before comparing it. If the installer won’t show it, that tells you something.

Grants: what comes off the price

In England and Wales, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 off an air to water or ground source heat pump. For eligible homes off the gas grid, it is £9,000 until 31 March 2027. Air to air heat pumps get £2,500. Your installer must be MCS certified, and they apply for the grant for you. MCS says the grant should be taken off your quote upfront, so you never pay the full amount and wait for a refund.

Some homeowners worry that installers raise prices to swallow the grant. The government data lets you check: if a quote is well above the upper quartile of about £15,600 for a typical-sized unit, ask what is driving it.

In Scotland, Home Energy Scotland offers a heat pump grant of up to £7,500 with an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500. See our grants hub for the full list.

Work out your own cost

Online heat pump cost calculators for the UK can only guess, because they don’t know your heat loss. You can get a fair estimate yourself in three steps:

1. Find your likely size. The middle half of homes paid through the scheme have units of 6kW to 11kW. A small, well-insulated home sits at the bottom; a large or older detached house at the top.
2. Read off the median. Use the size table above for a typical installed price.
3. Adjust and subtract. Add for a new cylinder space, a lot of radiator changes or electrical upgrades. Then take off £7,500 (or £9,000 if you qualify).

Then get a survey. Only a room-by-room heat loss calculation will give you the real figure.

What it costs to run

The price to install is only half the story. Under Ofgem’s price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, electricity is 26.32p per kWh and gas 7.97p per kWh. Take a home using Ofgem’s typical 9,500 kWh of gas a year with an 85% efficient boiler. It needs about 8,075 kWh of heat (9,500 × 0.85).

• Gas: 9,500 × 7.97p = £757, plus £108 a year gas standing charge (29.68p a day).
• Heat pump at SCOP 2.9: 8,075 ÷ 2.9 = 2,784 kWh × 26.32p = about £733.
• Heat pump at SCOP 3.5: 8,075 ÷ 3.5 = 2,307 kWh × 26.32p = about £607.

A SCOP of 2.9 is roughly what the government’s Electrification of Heat trial measured on average. That is why the design work in the quote matters: a well-designed system costs less to run every year. More on how they work on our heat pumps hub.

Questions people ask

Sources

• DESNZ: Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics, August 2026 (tables Q1.1A and A1.3A)
• Nesta: four years of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in four charts
• Which?: air source heat pump costs and savings
• Ofgem: Boiler Upgrade Scheme
• MCS: Boiler Upgrade Scheme for consumers
• MCS: MIS 3005-D heat pump design standard
• MCS: heat pump performance estimate (MCS 031)
• Home Energy Scotland: grant and loan
• Ofgem: changes to the energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026
• Ofgem: revised typical consumption values from 1 July 2026
• ACR News: Electrification of Heat demonstration final report findings