Three to four units of heat for every unit of electricity — but only when the system is sized against a full heat loss survey and the house can hold the heat. We do the fabric first, then the heat pump, and we will tell you if the numbers do not work.
A heat pump priced off floor area rather than a room-by-room heat loss calculation is a guess — and the wrong guess costs you every winter for fifteen years. The survey is free and comes with no obligation.
Your quote is itemised, fixed, and set out before anything is ordered — including any radiator changes the design needs.
A heat pump doesn’t burn anything. It moves existing heat from outside air into your home — which is why it can deliver more energy than it consumes.
A gas boiler is at best around 90% efficient. A well-designed heat pump delivers a seasonal performance factor of 3.5–4.0 — three and a half units of heat for every unit of electricity. The design is what determines whether you get 4.0 or a disappointing 2.5.
Modern units operate down to −20°C and are used routinely across Scandinavia. Efficiency does drop in the coldest weather, which is exactly why we size against your property’s real heat loss rather than a rule of thumb.
A heat pump turns your home into a high, predictable electricity user — which is the single best thing that can happen to a solar payback. Running both typically shortens solar payback by two to three years, and a battery on an off-peak tariff carries the winter.
Replacing a fossil fuel system lifts your EPC rating, which matters increasingly at sale and is already a hard requirement for landlords in parts of the private rented sector.
Modern units run at around 40–45 dB at a few metres — quieter than a fridge in most gardens. One annual service, no gas safety check, no flue, no combustion.
We record the design efficiency and check the real figure against it after the first heating season — because a heat pump that quietly runs below design costs you money every winter without ever showing a fault.
A typical 3-bedroom Scottish semi replacing a gas boiler. Your survey gives you the exact figures for your property.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Air source heat pump, cylinder & installation | £11,000 |
| Radiator upgrades where needed | £1,500 |
| Typical installed cost | £12,500 |
Illustrative figures for a typical 3-bedroom semi. Your actual cost depends on the heat loss survey, the emitter changes your property needs and the unit specified — the exact figure is confirmed at quote stage.
Against oil, LPG or old electric heating, a well-designed heat pump normally cuts running costs substantially. Against mains gas it is tighter: electricity costs roughly four times as much per unit as gas, so the system has to achieve a seasonal efficiency above about 3.5 just to break even, and better than that to save you money. Whether yours does comes down entirely to insulation, emitter sizing and flow temperature — which is exactly what the survey establishes. If the numbers do not work for your property, we will tell you.
Most heat pump horror stories come from the same two mistakes: an undersized system in an uninsulated house, and radiators left as they were. Both force the unit to run at high flow temperatures, which is where efficiency collapses from 400% to something closer to 250% — and bills go up instead of down.
We do a full room-by-room heat loss calculation before quoting, and we’ll tell you honestly if your property needs insulation work first. Sometimes that means we recommend external wall insulation before the heat pump — which lets us fit a smaller, cheaper unit and cuts what it costs you to run for as long as you own the house.
We specify against the property, not against a supplier deal. These are the manufacturers whose units we’ll stand behind for fifteen years.
5–16 kW · R290 refrigerant · Flow temperatures to 70°C, so often no radiator changes needed on older systems.
3.5–12 kW · R290 · Among the quietest units available and strong low-temperature performance — a good fit for tight Scottish plots.
4–14 kW · Proven in UK conditions with the widest installed base and the best-supported parts and service network.
A heat pump install is a bigger job than solar — allow 4–8 weeks from survey to commissioning.
Room-by-room calculation of your property’s actual heat demand — not a rule of thumb based on floor area.
We size the unit, specify any radiator changes, and give you a fixed, itemised price in writing before anything is ordered.
Typically 2–4 days. Old boiler removed, new unit and cylinder installed, system balanced and commissioned.
We tune the flow temperature over the first heating season and check real efficiency against the design figure.
If you’re replacing oil, LPG or electric heating, almost certainly yes and often substantially. If you’re replacing mains gas, it depends on the design: electricity costs roughly four times as much per unit as gas, so you need a seasonal efficiency above about 3.5 to break even on running cost, and better than that to save. A well-insulated house with a properly sized system and low flow temperatures gets there. A poorly designed one doesn’t — which is why we won’t quote without doing the heat loss calculation first.
Usually not all of them. Heat pumps run at lower flow temperatures than boilers, so some rooms need a larger emitter to deliver the same heat. In a typical retrofit we replace two to four radiators. The high-temperature units we fit — like the Samsung EHS running to 70°C — often need fewer changes still, though running at those temperatures costs you some efficiency.
Insulation first, in almost every case. It reduces your heat demand permanently, which means a smaller and cheaper heat pump and lower bills for as long as you own the property. Solar generally comes last, because a heat pump raises your electricity demand and that is precisely what makes solar pay back faster. We survey the whole property and give you the sequence — even when that means we do less work for you this year.
Yes. Every installer we work with is MCS registered and holds current certification. We survey, design and project-manage the job, and you receive your MCS certificate at handover. It is what underpins your warranty, so keep it with your paperwork.
Fifteen to twenty years for the outdoor unit with annual servicing, which is comparable to a good boiler. The cylinder typically lasts longer. Manufacturer warranties on the units we install run from five to seven years, extendable in most cases when serviced by an approved installer.
We’ll carry out a full room-by-room heat loss survey, quote you a fixed price in writing, and tell you plainly whether a heat pump makes sense for your property — or whether the fabric needs doing first.
Free survey. Tell us what the job is — we reply within one working day to book the visit.
