Why these guides exist
The main pages on this site cover the grant mechanics: what the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays, who qualifies, how installers apply and what a heat pump costs. Those pages answer the first question, which is usually money. The next questions are different. How does the thing actually work? Will it keep my house warm? What do I do before the survey? What happens in year five? People ask those after they have read about the grant, and good answers are scattered across government pages, trial reports and trade bodies.
Each guide here takes one of those questions and answers it with sources you can check. Where a number comes from the Energy Saving Trust, the Energy Systems Catapult field trial, Ofgem or DESNZ, the page says so and gives the date we read it. Where we could not verify something from a primary source, we have left it out and said so, rather than repeat a figure that sounds plausible. Anything that depends on your house, such as the heat demand, the radiators or where the outdoor unit goes, is flagged as a question for your installer’s survey, not something a web page can settle.
The guides are independent. This site is published by SEO-DONS LTD as a guide and enquiry service; it does not install, survey or sell heat pumps, and it does not rank or endorse installers. Your enquiry comes to SEO-DONS LTD, the publisher of this guide, and we reply by email.
How to use them
If you are new to the subject, read the basics in order. If you already have a quote on the table, jump to the theme that matches your doubt: efficiency if the predicted running cost looks too good, the survey guide if you are about to book a visit, the warranty guide if the paperwork is vague. Every guide links back to the grant, cost and installer pages so you can move between the questions and the money without losing your place. The grant itself is £7,500 for an air source or ground source heat pump in England and Wales, and £9,000 where the home has no mains gas and replaces oil or LPG heating, with applications for the higher band running from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027; the installer applies on your behalf.
The basics: what a heat pump is and which type
Start here if you are new to heat pumps and want the mechanism, the trade-offs and the choice of type before you look at quotes.
- How does a heat pump work?. The four-stage cycle, what is installed in the home and why one unit of electricity gives several of heat.
- Heat pump pros and cons. Efficiency, grant, cost, electricity prices, space and noise, with the official figures on each side.
- Air source vs ground source. Cost, land, efficiency, installation time and the same grant for both.
- Heat pump vs oil boiler. Running costs at the current oil price and the £9,000 off-gas grant.
- Hybrid vs air source heat pump. Why the grant decides it, and how close the running costs are.
- Replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump. What comes out, what goes in, and the steps to switch-on.
Performance and running costs
How efficient heat pumps really are in UK homes, how much electricity they draw and how to get the best from them.
- Do heat pumps work in cold weather?. UK trial efficiency by outdoor temperature, and what a cold week costs.
- Why is my heat pump electricity bill high?. The four usual causes and what to check, in order.
- Heat pump efficiency: COP, SCOP and SPF. What the ratios mean and what a large UK field trial measured.
- How much electricity does a heat pump use?. The kWh sum, priced at the Ofgem cap, with a calculator.
- Controls and weather compensation. The heating curve, flow temperature, set-back and boost settings.
- Heat pump and solar panels. What solar can cover, where a battery and tariff help and how the grant treats each.
Preparing your home
Questions that come up before the survey and the installation: what to prepare, what to fit and whether to insulate first.
- Heat pump survey: what happens and how to prepare. What the installer assesses, what to gather and what to ask.
- Which homes are not suitable for a heat pump?. What a 742-home trial found, and the real limits: space, planning, radiators.
- Do you need insulation first?. The grant no longer requires it; what the evidence says about doing it anyway.
- Heat pump and underfloor heating. Why they pair well and what retrofitting involves.
Owning a heat pump
What happens after installation: servicing, lifespan and the paperwork that protects you.
- Service and maintenance. How often, what is checked and what you can do yourself.
- How long do heat pumps last?. The expected life, what shortens it and what to ask before buying.
- Warranty and insurance. Product and workmanship cover, deposits and what the consumer code does and does not do.
The grant, cost and installer pages
The guides assume you can find the main pages when you need them. The most-used ones are:
Not sure whether you qualify? The eligibility checker asks six questions, with contact details optional. Want a sense of the sums? The running costs page and the air source cost page use official figures. And if you are ready to ask for quotes, the installer guide explains how to shortlist firms and what the enquiry form does and does not do.