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Heat Pumps Without Grants: Would You Have Installed One & Will You Now?
@jamespa I’m less inclined to believe the shift of taxes onto electricity was to cripple the transition as unintended consequences. There’s plenty of evidence on various governmental decisions that accidentally self crippling are more frequent than malice. There’s plenty c@ck-up theory of life basically.
2kW + Growatt & 4kW +Sunnyboy PV on south-facing roof Solar thermal. 9.5kWh Givenergy battery with AC3. MVHR. Vaillant 7kW ASHP (very pleased with SCOP >4) open system operating on WC
"To make heat pumps available to even more households, government previously consulted on different purchase options, including the possibility of leasing a heat pump with no upfront cost, but with low, monthly payments instead.
Following significant feedback to the consultation, government will continue to explore the feasibility of introducing such schemes, with further announcements to be made in due course. "
This would help those who can't afford the upfront costs and depending on the lease may well reduce the risk to many consumers of poor installs and help many budget. It is certainly something I would consider, just like not paying up front for an EV.
@transparent did you contribute to the consultation mentioned?
This post was modified 10 months ago 4 times by Jeff
How do those on low income afford to replace their gas boiler at around £2500-3000; that’s what I was quoted to replace my troublesome uninsurable 16yo Baxi 105HE.
With the BUS grant at £5k, I was quoted £3k to fit a Heat Pump, when it increased to £7k5, the quote I got for a heat pump was £2k; where did missing £1k5 go?
For me it was cheaper to install HP than replace the Gas Boiler, and with the help of PV and a battery, my running costs will be less than with Gas CHG.
The biggest improvement anyone must make before thinking about a HP is upgrade insulation in every room, ceiling, floor and walls. Im half way thru my renovation and I feel warmer in the better insulated parts of the house, the other half has unfinished wall and ceiling insulation, the lounge in particular has no ceiling as the electrics are being upgraded
How do those on low income afford to replace their gas boiler at around £2500-3000; that’s what I was quoted to replace my troublesome uninsurable 16yo Baxi 105HE.
Im guessing a fair proportion of that group are renters, so its their landlord's job. How low income home owners manage to find the money to replace a gas boiler I dont know. Loan I suppose, or savings?
How do those on low income afford to replace their gas boiler at around £2500-3000; that’s what I was quoted to replace my troublesome uninsurable 16yo Baxi 105HE.
Im guessing a fair proportion of that group are renters, so its their landlord's job. How low income home owners manage to find the money to replace a gas boiler I dont know. Loan I suppose, or savings?
Lots of interest free loans out there for gas boilers if you can get credit and you don't rent.
Depends on the definition of low income and the overall financial position.
Plenty of ways to take out loans, although can be high interest rates as I know from others in my family....
The leasing scheme for heat pumps that the government is developing could be a game changer for some but not all households who are priced out of the net zero transition.
With the BUS grant at £5k, I was quoted £3k to fit a Heat Pump, when it increased to £7k5, the quote I got for a heat pump was £2k; where did missing £1k5 go?
Agree, "inflation" is high on ASHP installations.
We found something similar with insulation as well. We had a quote for external wall insulatioin of solid walls. We then found that we had some cavity, so would need a smaller area. Still, the installer would only make a token adjustment...
The biggest improvement anyone must make before thinking about a HP is upgrade insulation in every room, ceiling, floor and walls.
Insulation always helps, heat pump or not.
In our case, the rads were sized for solid walls and a gas boiler. We subsequently did EWI. So I am hoping the heat pump install will not need rads to be upgraded..
8kW Solis S6-EH1P8K-L-PLUS hybrid inverter; G99: 8kW export; 16kWh Seplos Fogstar battery; Ohme Home Pro EV charger; Vaillant Arotherm Pro 7kW; 100Amp head, HA lab on mini PC
How do those on low income afford to replace their gas boiler at around £2500-3000; that’s what I was quoted to replace my troublesome uninsurable 16yo Baxi 105HE.
Im guessing a fair proportion of that group are renters, so its their landlord's job. How low income home owners manage to find the money to replace a gas boiler I dont know. Loan I suppose, or savings?
Lots of interest free loans out there for gas boilers if you can get credit and you don't rent.
Depends on the definition of low income and the overall financial position.
Plenty of ways to take out loans, although can be high interest rates as I know from others in my family....
The leasing scheme for heat pumps that the government is developing could be a game changer for some but not all households who are priced out of the net zero transition.
I'm not so sure.
New gas boiler £100 a month over 3 years fully paid for (with no disruption, installed within a few days of it breaking) or HP £100 a month over 10 years or maybe never even owned. I don't think many would go for a leased HP if they can't claim the BUS grant over a new gas boiler.
I can't imagine it will be appealing either to a new property occupier to have to rent your heating system.
We had two heat pumps installed without Govt funding. However, they are not necessarily of the type that the poll was intending to ask about.
We have two Daikin air-to-air units, 2.5 kW and 3.5 kW. Originally fitted because we did not want any more sleepless nights in a hot house during heat waves. They are fantastic for cooling with an average achieved COP of over 9 during 2026. On the hottest day of the year, they dumped 36 kWh out of the house keeping it to 23-24C rather than the 34C+ it was outside.
The biggest surprise was just how good they are on heating. Over winter 2025-26 they achieved an average COP of 5.2, mainly using cheap rate overnight electricity or solar, at less than 2p a kWh of heat produced, including the reduced solar export.
In stark contrast to ASHPs, air-to-air heat pump installs are completely self-contained, so there is nothing like the same level of grief that seems to happen with the installation of ASHP and their integration into existing heating systems. The install for our two single-split air-to-air systems caused absolutely minimal disruption and was all done in a day at the end of summer 2025. Since then they have worked flawlessly.
Currently, we effectively have a hybrid heating system with approximately half of the space heating requirement fulfilled by the air-to-air system. Combined with insulation upgrades, this has reduced our gas usage to 40% of what it was in 2021. There is a useful redundancy here in that if either gas boiler or air-to-air system were to stop working, the other is capable of delivering enough heat to keep the house warm even on the coldest days.
I am considering an ASHP, but have concerns about the quality of installations, and the potential for issues when 2020's technology meets 1970's plumbing. As a consequence, I first aim to understand as well as possible the issues involved and the potential pitfalls for which RHH has been invaluable - both the forum and the YouTube videos.
The next step will be replacement of 55-year old radiators with new ones of significantly higher output, this will allow the existing gas boiler, which runs weather compensation, to function as a low temperature heating system.
Hopefully, I can figure out all of the wrinkles before getting an ASHP, which at current prices needs the BUS grant to make it viable.
