Heat Pump Reviews
Samsung Heat Pump Review
Samsung In Brief: A well-known big-name brand, Samsung rather unbelievably started as a grocery store in South Korea in 1938 and has expanded to become
September 28, 2023 No Comments
Menu
Save £100s Each Year With a Heat Pump
As seen on...
GOV.UK
Government grants are available to eligible households with 0% VAT also payable
We will help you find out if you are eligible for heat pump grants and introduce you to fully-registered heat pump installer.
An expert air source heat pump specialist will be in touch to discuss grants, your requirements and whether a heat pump is suitable for your home
An appointment at a time convenient to you will be arranged to visit your home
The professional installer will guide you through the options including any finance or funding available.
You pick a date and time to have your brand new heat pump installed.
If all these points apply to you then an air source heat pump could be the right solution and you could qualify for a free heat pump funding grant.
Your current heating is inefficient
You have sufficient outdoor space
Your home is well insulated
You want to reduce energy costs
Pay 0% VAT on Heat Pumps Until March 2027
Funding grants worth thousands are available to eligible households to help towards the cost of installing a heat pump. Under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, those who qualify could receive up to £7,500 towards the costs of installing an air source heat pump system.
Grants are free and will allow you to get a heat pump at a fraction of the cost. You do not have to pay any of the grant back.
Enquire today and find out if an air source heat pump (ASHP) is suitable for your home and what options are available to you. You may even be eligible for grants towards a new air source heat pump.
To help UK households, energy-saving measures such as heat pumps are subject to 0% VAT, down from the previous 5%. This VAT-free period will run until 2027.
An air source heat pump and fan unit looks typically like an air conditioning unit and is usually placed next to an external wall and fitted to the ground, with pipes installed to carry hot water through them. Air source heat pumps are a type of renewable energy technology that allows you to produce energy from outside air, meaning you could save significantly on your energy bills.
Unlike the majority of home heating systems, which either burn fuel or convert electricity into heat, air source heat pumps are different. Instead, they suck in air that is outside, it is then condensed, heating it to generate warmth for the home. This makes them a more efficient eco-friendly option as they bring in more heat energy than the electrical energy that is required to run the heat pump, so an air source system will normally cost less to run than a traditional heating system.
Funding is available to eligible households as part of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme where applicants can receive a grant worth up to £7,500 (increased in October 2023 from the previous £5,000 grant) in order to have an air source heat pump system fitted. The £450 million UK Government initiative is part of the £3.9 billion funding package, under the Heat and Buildings Strategy, aimed at helping reduce carbon emissions in the UK. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is expected to run until April 2025.
At a time when households are under increasing pressure from the escalating cost of energy bills, the scheme will not only help those that are likely to struggle with the cost of heating their homes, but also those who are looking to replace an energy-inefficient fossil fuel heating system. This marks a change from previous schemes of this nature which had certain income or benefits-related eligibility criteria for funding.
To help households further, energy-saving measures such as heat pumps are subject to 0% VAT, down from the previous 5%. This VAT-free period will run until 2027.
Simply put, an air source heat pump functions similarly to a fridge but it works in reverse, to heat the home. They transfer heat rather than generate it. Here is a breakdown of how it works:
With a focus on the UK moving away from fossil fuel heating and transitioning to more energy efficient systems (for example, the government banning all new homes from installing gas and oil boilers by 2025), this means that low-carbon heating alternatives are becoming commonplace. This means that it is only a matter of time before most households that are suitable will have an air source heat pump system that will help them use less fossil fuels and save energy and reduce their bills.
Depending on the size of your property, air source heat pump installation costs can vary from around £7,000 – £13,000. With a heat pump grant, you can get funding of up to £7,500 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to cover a sizeable portion of the costs. Additionally, funding for vulnerable households is available under the ECO4 scheme, so it could be possible to get an air source heat pump, as well as additional ECO measures, such as solar panels and insulation.
Funding under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme or clean heat grant is available to households where a heat pump is replacing an existing fossil fuel system or direct electric system and the heat pump will provide all heating, as well as domestic hot water. The scheme replaces the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme which aimed to reward homes that switched to energy-efficient measures such as heat pumps and closed to new applicants in March 2022.
Funding for a free air source heat pump may also be available under the ECO4 Scheme. Eligibility for ECO4 is closely related to household income to ensure that fuel poor households who are not in receipt of benefits are still able to access the available funding. Previously many households may have been prevented from applying for energy grants they did not receive any benefits, even though they were low-income households.
Aside from eligibility based on benefits, there is the option of grants for households that have a household income of £31,000 or less. Additionally, the scheme aims to primarily help homes with a low Energy Performance Certificate bands D, E, F to G to boost their EPC rating. The installers must be MCS certified and there must be no recommendations on the valid EPC for loft and cavity wall insulation.
Those in Scotland and Wales are also able to access heat pump grants through the following Schemes:
You don’t need to be claiming benefits to be eligible for a heat pump grant.
A highly efficient and cost-effective way of heating your home and providing hot water.
Renewable Source of Heating
Efficiency can exceed 300%
Can provide heating and domestic hot water
Performs at temperatures as low as -20°C
Low noise levels
Installation within 2-4 days
Low maintenance
Government incentives up to £7,500
Air source heat pumps are a highly efficient and eco-friendly way to heat your home, with huge savings to be made, especially if you replace an old inefficient heating system with an air source heat pump. Potential annual savings (based on an average sized, three-bedroom semi-detached home, with radiator upgrades as required) are as follows:
| Existing system | Annual savings by switching to air source | Co2 savings (kg/year) |
| Old G-rated gas boiler | £295 | 2,900 |
| New A-rated gas boiler | £-35 | 1,900 |
| Old electric storage heater | £1,100 | 2,000 |
| New electric storage heater | £790 | 1,600 |
| Old G-rated oil boiler | £550 | 4,400 |
| New A-rated oil boiler | -£115 | 2,900 |
| Old G-rated LPG boiler | £560 | 3,400 |
| New A-rated LPG boiler | £150 | 2,200 |
Source Energy Saving Trust: Figures are based on fuel prices as of October 2023. Savings will vary depending on the size of your home, any heating system upgrade and fuel type being replaced. You can expect the savings to range between old and new, depending on the age of your current heating system.
0% VAT payable and funding grants available
Why choose air source over a traditional boiler?
Traditional boilers are dependent on gas which is rapidly increasing in cost, making them a more costly option to run.
Heat pumps are a highly efficient, much greener alternative to other forms of heating like gas boilers.
Pay 0% VAT on Heat Pumps Until March 2027
To encourage the uptake of energy efficient measures like heat pumps, the government has made it possible for installations up to March 2027 to be done with 0% VAT payable.
Additionally, funding grants worth thousands are available to eligible households to help towards the cost of installing a heat pump. Under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, those who qualify could receive up to £7,500 towards the costs of installing an air source heat pump system.
Grants are free and will allow you to get a heat pump at a fraction of the cost. You do not have to pay any of the grant back.
Air source heat pumps are not dependent on specific weather conditions, so it doesn’t particularly matter geographically where you are located. What is more a priority is the type of property you have, and your current heating system.
Air source heat pumps heat water to a lower temperature than traditional gas boilers, so they are most suitable for heating well-insulated homes with underfloor heating, or where there are large radiators that function at lower temperatures. However, systems can sometimes be installed without these.
In England and Scotland, air source heat pumps don’t normally require planning permission unless the building is listed or is in a Conservation area, area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or a National park. Those in Wales do need planning permission to install a heat pump. If unsure, you should check with the local planning department.
The external fan does make a small amount of noise, but not much different to that generated by a fridge freezer. If the building is double-glazed then any noise will not be noticeable within the property. ASHPs run much quieter during the warmer months as they don’t need to work as hard to draw in the hot air. Read more about ‘How noisy are heat pumps?’.
The majority of heating systems in the home rely on burning fuel or converting electricity into heat. Heat pumps differ and are more efficient because they don’t generate heat, but instead extract existing heat energy from outside into your home. By delivering more heat energy than the electrical energy they run off, a heat pump system is usually more cost-effective than a traditional heating system such as a boiler.
The Government made a commitment for heat pumps to be 0% VAT payable. This was announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement in 2022 and saw 0% applicable from 1 April 2022. The introduction of 0% VAT is in place of the previous reduced VAT rate scheme on energy-saving measures that saw VAT reduced to 5% from the previous rate of 20%.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) provides grants to support the installation of energy efficient measures such as heat pumps in homes and commercial premises in England and Wales. Up to £450 million of grant funding is available over three years from 2022 to 2025 in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions. Heat pump installers can apply on behalf of householders for £7,500 towards the cost of an air source heat pump.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is expected to provide £450 million over the next three years for 90,000 Air Source Heat Pumps to be installed. This is all part of the government wanting to cut domestic contributions to carbon emissions to help with Britain’s net-zero target for 2050.
The ECO4 scheme is a government-backed initiative that sees energy suppliers obliged to help households improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The scheme is open to all homeowners in the UK regardless of whether they own or rent their property.
Under the scheme, eligible households can receive free or discounted energy efficiency measures, such as an air source heat pump, to help them reduce the cost of heating their home and contribute towards the overall drive to reduce carbon emissions. For more information on the ECO scheme click here.
As the funding under the ECO scheme comes from some of the largest UK energy suppliers as part of a commitment to help households reduce carbon emissions, any grants awarded are free and do not have to be repaid. Grants may cover all or part of the cost of installation, so households may be expected to make a contribution towards the cost of their heat pump installation.
Samsung In Brief: A well-known big-name brand, Samsung rather unbelievably started as a grocery store in South Korea in 1938 and has expanded to become
Worcester Bosch In Brief: Bosch is a globally renowned company which has a wide range of products, including heating, air-conditioning and household appliances. It is
Panasonic Heat Pumps In Brief: Panasonic has taken a different approach to designing heat pumps for residential buildings with its Aquarea models. It has specially
Heat Pumps UK (previously Heat Pump Grants) is a trading style of Lead Pronto Ltd, a Company registered in England & Wales, company number 11563815.