Heat Pump Installation near you

The single most important difference is flow temperature. A boiler can push very hot water through small radiators for short bursts; a heat pump works most efficiently when it delivers cooler water steadily. Sized correctly, the house holds a stable temperature rather than swinging between hot and cold, but the radiators or underfloor circuits have to be big enough to give out the required heat at that lower temperature, which is why surveys so often recommend replacing some emitters.

The second difference is the hot water. A heat pump system nearly always needs a cylinder, and it needs somewhere to put it, so airing cupboards, loft space and pipe routes come into the conversation in a way they never did with a combi boiler.

The third is the building itself. Draughts, missing loft insulation and poorly performing glazing all raise the heat loss the system has to meet, and a good installer will tell you where fabric improvements will do more good than a larger unit. Approved Document L covers the energy performance of new and existing buildings in England, with Volume 1 for dwellings, and Scotland sets its own requirements through Section 6 of the building standards technical handbooks.

Expect a survey that takes hours rather than minutes. The installer should measure rooms, record construction and insulation, calculate heat loss room by room, check every radiator against the design flow temperature, discuss hot water demand and consider where the outdoor unit can go so that it breathes properly and does not overlook a neighbour's window.

The installation itself typically means a base or bracket for the outdoor unit, water pipework into the house, a cylinder with its associated pipework and safety fittings, electrical work including a suitable supply for the unit, emitter changes where the design requires them, controls, then commissioning and a handover with the settings explained. In England, installers registered with a competent person scheme can self-certify heat pump and heating work rather than going through building control, and GOV.UK lists the authorised schemes covering heating, hot water and heat pump systems, operating in England and Wales.

LokalMatch fits at the start of that process. You set out the property, the heating system you have now and your postcode once, and heat pump installers covering your area contact you, which makes it easier to get more than one survey before committing. Pros pay for the requests they receive. LokalMatch does not design or install anything, does not set prices and does not vet, rank or recommend anyone, so comparing heat loss calculations and checking MCS certification remains your job.

In England, air source heat pumps on domestic premises are covered by Class G of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order. The amending Order that came into force on 29 May 2025 made three changes worth knowing: the restriction that no part of the pump could be within a metre of the boundary was removed, the volume limit for an outdoor compressor unit on a house rose to 1.5 cubic metres while blocks of flats stay at 0.6 cubic metres, and detached houses may now have two pumps where other homes may have one.

The conditions that remain still decide most jobs. The Planning Portal sets out that the installation must comply with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme planning standards, which for air source heat pumps is the MCS 020 sound calculation, that pumps are not permitted on pitched roofs and must sit at least a metre from the edge of a flat roof, that permitted development does not apply to listed buildings or scheduled monuments, and that in conservation areas and World Heritage Sites the pump must not go on a wall or roof fronting a highway. The 2025 Order also added a condition that the heat pump is not solely used for the purpose of cooling, and the pump must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable when it is no longer needed.

Scotland is separate. The Scottish Government's householder permitted development guidance allows an air source heat pump on a dwelling or in its curtilage but not more than one on the same building or curtilage, limits protrusion to a metre from an external wall, roof plane, ridge or chimney, requires a conservation area installation to be at ground floor level on the rear elevation, excludes World Heritage Sites and the curtilage of listed buildings, requires compliance with MCS 020 planning standards or equivalent, and restricts use to providing domestic heating or hot water.

Northern Ireland brought in its own relaxation on 4 July 2023 through the Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2023, with conditions including that the pump sits at least one metre from a neighbouring property boundary and meets noise standards. Wherever you are, a quick call to the local planning authority before the position is fixed is cheaper than moving the unit afterwards.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales and is administered by Ofgem for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. It supports replacing fossil fuel heating systems, such as oil, gas, electric or LPG, with a heat pump or, in limited cases, a biomass boiler. You must own the property, including a second home, a business premises or one you let to tenants, and the installer must complete and commission the work within 120 days of the application. Social housing and most new builds still being constructed by a developer are excluded, and biomass is limited to rural properties off the gas grid with an emissions certificate.

The scheme is installer-led, which changes how it feels in practice. An MCS certified installer applies for the voucher and redeems it, and the grant comes off what you pay rather than arriving later. A valid energy performance certificate is part of eligibility, and the system has to be sized to meet the property's space heating demand, so it is not a contribution towards a supplementary unit.

Scotland funds its own route through the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan, funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Energy Saving Trust, which combines a grant with an optional interest-free loan, adds an uplift for rural and island homes, requires both installer and product to be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, and funds only systems meeting the whole of a property's heating and hot water requirements rather than hybrids. Northern Ireland has neither the Boiler Upgrade Scheme nor its old boiler replacement scheme, which GOV.UK records as closed, so check locally before assuming any support.

Certification runs through the whole job rather than sitting at the end of it. Government schemes require an MCS certified installer, and the certificate issued for your installation is what you will be asked for when a grant is claimed and often when the property is sold, so it belongs with the paperwork for the house alongside the energy performance certificate.

Beyond the certificate, keep the heat loss calculation, the design flow temperature, the commissioning record, the manufacturer's warranty terms and the maintenance schedule. A warranty that depends on annual servicing is only as good as the record of that servicing.

If the system is a split rather than a monobloc, some of the work involves the refrigerant circuit, which is regulated: the engineer needs an F gas qualification and the company needs certification renewed every three years. Ask which arrangement you are being quoted for, since it affects who can service the system later.

The first winter is a learning curve, mostly about leaving the system alone. Heat pumps work best running steadily at a lower temperature rather than being switched on and off in bursts, so the habits that suited a gas boiler tend to make a heat pump less efficient, not more. Ask the installer to explain the weather compensation settings and what the controls actually do before they leave.

Routine maintenance is modest: keep the outdoor unit clear of leaves, snow and vegetation so air can move through it, leave space around it, check that the condensate from defrost cycles drains away rather than freezing across a path, and keep an eye on system pressure. An annual service by a competent engineer keeps the warranty intact and catches small problems.

Hot water deserves its own conversation, since a cylinder heated by a heat pump is managed differently from one heated by a boiler, including the periodic higher-temperature cycle most systems run. Make sure you are shown how that is set up rather than discovering it on a bill.