Air Source Heat Pump Installation (Detailed Guide)

This air source heat pump installation cost guide includes:

• A summary of everything you need to know
• Installation costs
• Government grants
• What to expect from an installation
• The best ASHP brands
• Choosing an installer
• Should you attempt a DIY install?
• The importance of maintenance post-installation

In Summary: Everything You Need To Know About Heat Pump Installation

Our comprehensive guide to heat pump installation includes everything you need to know before having one fitted. Not got 10-15 minutes to read it now? Bookmark this page for later and read this quick summary instead…

Air source heat pump installation costs tend to sit in the £7,000-£12,000 range. That would get a quality unit fitted, such as the Vaillant aroTHERM 7kW. Funding is available via government grants such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme; this scheme offers up to £7,500 for eligible property owners. 

Before booking an installation, you'll need a quick survey. This can be an on-site survey, or a clickable online form like ours here (takes less than 2-minutes to complete). 

With property details to boot, we'll then suggest a brand and model most suited to your property such as the: Ideal Logic Air, Samsung EHS HT Quiet, Vaillant aroTHERM or Grant Aerona³. The exact brand and model we suggest will be based on your property’s specs. 

Our MCS accredited heat pump installers will then remove your old system and get your new air source heat pump fitted, usually within 2-5 days. The time to fit a heat pump is dependent on the complexity and size of the project. 

Installing pumps isn’t cheap, so it’s natural a lot of people investigate a DIY fit rather than using trained professionals. But, with up to £7,500 available via the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, you won’t actually save any money. 

Only installations commissioned by certified MCS heat pump installers are eligible for government grants. So, fitting on a DIY basis will lead to undertaking a huge project, and zero cash savings. 

And finally, remember that post-installation, you’ll want your air source heat pump (ASHP) regularly maintained. Pumps that aren’t maintained could see a drop of efficiency in the 20-25% range. 

Ready to book your air source heat pump installation? Jump over to our heat pump page here, or speak to one of our experts here. 

Air Source Heat Pump Installation Costs

Air source heat pump installation costs vary from property to property. Dozens of factors affect the overall cost of fitting including: 

• The size and type of heat pump you choose to have fitted
• Complexity of the installation
• Whether or not you choose to have solar panels, underfloor heating and more efficient radiators fitted
• The type of smart controls you pick

You should expect the cost of a heat pump installation to set you back somewhere in the region of £7,000-£12,000. As an example, the price (fitted including labour) of a Vaillant aroTHERM 7kW is just over £10,000; get your fixed price using this tool here. 

Whilst there are cheaper heat pumps available, they won’t be from a leading heating brand like Vaillant, and they won’t come with a long 7-year manufacturer’s warranty. Lesser brands tend to offer somewhere in the region of a 2-3 year warranty. That’s not enough insurance when investing over £10,000 into your heating system!

For the majority of residential properties in the UK, units with a power output of 4kW-12kW would be suitable. So, the 7kW Vaillant mentioned above is generally suited to a mid-sized property such as a 3-bedroom semi-detached. 

Funding For Installation Via Heat Pump Grants

Top Government Grants

Unlike new gas boilers, a heat pump installation is likely eligible for a government grant. As you can see above, you’re looking at somewhere around £10,000 for a heat pump to be installed. 

Utilising a government grant such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme mentioned below? You’ll get funding of up to £7,500. 

And this is extremely important. Gas boilers don’t qualify for eco-friendly grants from the government. With funding available for your new air source heat pump, the price of installation is comparable to a gas boiler (approximately £3,000).

Popular heat pump grants in the UK include:

• Boiler Upgrade Scheme
• 0% VAT on clean energy installations
• Energy Company Obligation Scheme (also known as ECO4)
• Nest (a Welsh government scheme)
• Warm Homes Scotland

For air source heat pump installations, the most popular government grant is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. This entitles you to up to £7,500 towards an air source heat pump. It’s also used for ground source heat pump installations (up to £7,500 in government grants) and biomass boilers (up to £5,000 in funding). 

An important side note here, is that there are a lot of hybrid heating systems on offer in the UK, and these aren’t eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Essentially, these are systems where a gas boiler is fitted in conjunction with an air source heat pump. 

Get your installation quote inclusive of government grant funding here. 

Eligibility 

The eligibility criteria for air source heat pump installation grants is fairly simple, you’ll need to: 

• Own your property
• Be replacing a heating system that relies on fossil fuels (gas, LPG or oil)
• Use an MCS registered installer
• Get your installer to both fit and commission the system within 120 days of being accepted for your grant

There are a couple of scenarios where homeowners replacing a fossil fuel system aren’t able to get a grant for their ASHP installation including: 

• Most new build properties
• If you’ve ever had funding for a heat pump in the past
• Eligible heat pump fitted, but not by an MCS installer and doesn’t meet MCS standards

If you’ve received government grants for the likes of cavity wall insulation, you’ll still be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme; air source heat pumps work incredibly well with well insulated homes. 

That’s the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in summary. You can get prices for ASHP installation using our clickable form here. Or, you can read more about the Boiler Upgrade Scheme on the government website here. 

Air Source Heat Pump Installation Process

So, you’ve chosen your heat pump and a MCS installer is booked in to fit it, what’s next? 

Heat Pump Installation Time

A common question we are asked is how long it will take to have an air source heat pump fitted. As with price, it’s hard to give a straight answer. 

The time to fit a typical air source heat pump is 2-5 days. This is extended for complex installations to up to 10 days. 

The time it takes to install a heat pump depends on your property’s layout, complexity of the installation and any add-ons you’ve paid for, such as smart controls and new radiators. For instance, adding just a couple of new radiators (including new pipework) could add on a day to the timescale. 

What To Expect With Your Heat Pump Installation

Now you've picked your pump and chosen a qualified MCS fitter, here's what you should expect:

1. Online or on-site survey to check the heat demand, hot water demand and suitable installation area for your heat pump
2. Removal of your existing system, capping off pipework where necessary
3. Installation of the air source heat pump (outside), as well as the cylinder and heating controls (inside)
4. Connect up the air source heat pump by running copper pipework, insulating where necessary
5. Test your new heating system, and commission it so you can access funding via the government's grant for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Our team can work around you to ensure that your installation creates minimal disruption whilst we’re working on your property. 

You can get a fixed price on-screen using this clickable form. Or, if you have further questions regarding the time it takes to fit your system and the overall installation process, you can contact our heat pump experts here. 

Air Source Heat Pump Brands

The Best Heat Pump Brands

There are dozens of air source heat pump brands available in the UK. However, plenty of these brands offer below-par warranty and lack overall value for money. 

More importantly, the average air source heat pump will work at around 300% efficiency. Some of the brands on the list below? They’ll work at up to 503% efficiency, which is going to result in your electricity bill dropping like a stone!

The brands offering the best value for money, long warranty and excellent customer service on their heat pump range include: 

• Grant 
• Ideal Heating
• Samsung
• Vaillant
• Viessmann
• Daikin
• Dimplex
• Mitsubishi
• LG
• Worcester Bosch

Among these brands, we have incredibly popular models such as the Ideal Logic Air R32, Samsung EHS HT Quiet R32, Vaillant aroTHERM R290 and Grant Aerona³ R32.

We’ve written a detailed guide to the best air source heat pump brands here. 

Which Heat Pump Brand Should You Have Fitted? 

Our 4 favourites are: 

• Grant 
• Ideal Heating
• Samsung
• Vaillant

So, which one should you pick for your property? 

This depends on which brand has the most suitable air source heat pump in their range. And this is determined by your hot water demand, heating demand, square footage of your property and dozens of other factors. 

Remove the confusion when it comes to picking brands, what size pump you need and more; use our clickable heat pump tool here and get a fixed price on-screen within a couple of minutes. 

And if you want to research manufacturers in more detail, read our detailed page that’s packed full of air source heat pump reviews here. 

Finding ASHP Installers

We’ve already mentioned the £7,500 on offer from the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. An important note here is that to qualify for this grant, you’ll need to use a MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certified installer, with your installation meeting MCS standards. 

Have an air source heat pump installed and the installation doesn’t meet MCS standards? You won’t be eligible for anything!

MCS works on guidelines and standards for all low carbon installations (air source and ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar panels). Put simply, if your installer isn’t MCS certified, they’re not qualified to fit your system. 

All of Dwellow’s air source heat pump installers are registered and certified by MCS, so your heat pump installation will be eligible for a government grant (assuming that your property is too). You can use this clickable form which will suggest the right brand, model and kW output air source heat pump for your property, with fixed prices on-screen. 

Heat Pump Installation Regulations

Before having an air source heat pump installed, there are few regulations that need to be accounted for. 

Of course, it’s your installer’s job to assess your property, the complexity of the installation and building regulations to ensure that your ASHP is fitted within building regulations and up to MCS standards. 

One of the most important regulations they’ll need to account for is listed on the government’s website here, and it relates to noise. 

Heat pumps are generally a little noisier than a gas boiler. For the homeowner, this isn’t an issue as the pump is fitted outside. However, cheap brands with noisy units can sometimes cause a nuisance for neighbours. 

That’s why the government has introduced a 42dB noise limit. This noise limit is measured at the neighbouring property rather than at the site where the heat pump is installed.

At Dwellow, we account for all building regulations relating to heat pump installations, so you don’t have to. 

Simply use this clickable form, tell us about your property and we’ll suggest the most suitable heat pump and give you a fixed price on-screen. 

DIY Heat Pump Installation

With the cost of heat pump installation rising to £10,000 and beyond, it makes sense that a lot of homeowners are interested in a DIY installation. 

Whilst it’s possible, it’s not advisable. ASHP installers that have MCS accreditation will do a much better job on an install than someone that’s inexperienced. And remember, a heat pump installer’s job isn’t just limited to actually fitting the unit, they’ll also: 

• Spec your property to ensure you have the correct kW output heat pump fitted
• Choose and install the correct hot water cylinder and smart controls
• Determine whether the radiators currently fitted in your property will suffice, or if they need upgrading to bigger, new and efficient ones
• Sign off and commission your heat pump installation, so you’re eligible for a government grant worth up to £7,500

And that last point is the most important. With government grants worth up to £7,500 on offer, fitting a heat pump on a DIY basis won’t actually save you any money. What it will do, is mean you have a huge project on your hands, with the potential to void the warranty on your pump that’s worth £1000s. 

We take the confusion out of every stage of the process, from fitting through to working within current building regulations. You can get a quote on a heat pump here, and could be eligible for up to £7,500 in government grants to fund your new heat pump. 

Maintenance Post-Installation

Just as you would with a gas boiler, after installation of your heat pump, regular servicing is required. Generally, an annual service is more than enough.

Whilst there are a lot less parts that risk getting blocked up or breaking with an air source heat pump setup than a gas boiler, they still need to be monitored and maintained. 

Choose not to maintain your heat pump? You could end up with some costly repair bills, not to mention a drop in efficiency of up to 25%. 

An MCS installer will be able to offer an annual service on your heat pump, to include: 

• Replacing or cleaning the filter
• Checking the system’s refrigerant levels, as well as checking for any leaks
• Ensuring that any blockages are removed (any drop in airflow will reduce efficiency dramatically)
• Check the fan blades on the pump, switch off the pump and clean them

Put simply, if you’re investing big money into an efficient heat pump, you want to be working at its optimum at all times. Regular maintenance is going to enable that to happen. 

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