Installation planner
Your price by size, and the dates your job has to meet
Pick the type and size of heat pump, say what heats the house now, and choose the month you expect to accept a quote. You get the official median price for that size, what is left after the grant, and the deadlines the scheme sets. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Median installed price, 8 to 10 kW
£12,688
Air-to-water heat pumps installed under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales, April 2025 to March 2026 (DESNZ Table A1.3A), including VAT and the grant value.
- Grant for most homes
- £7,500
- Left to pay at the median
- £5,188
The grant needs: you own the property; an MCS certified installer applies for you; the heat pump replaces fossil fuel or electric heating and is not a hybrid. Most new builds and social housing are excluded. Full rules on GOV.UK.
Your dates
- When you accept a quote the installer applies to Ofgem for the grant.
- Within 14 days of Ofgem's email you confirm you agree, or the application can be rejected.
- 3 months from the voucher being issued to install, commission and claim it (6 months for ground source).
Figures: DESNZ Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics, September 2026 release (published 29 October 2026); Ofgem property owner guidance; HMRC VAT Notice 708/6. Checked 3 November 2026. These are medians of prices installers reported, not a quote: your price comes from your own survey.
See every size band
| Size | Median price | After £7,500 | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 4 kW | £11,992 | £4,492 | 239 |
| 4 to 6 kW | £11,494 | £3,994 | 4,204 |
| 6 to 8 kW | £12,164 | £4,664 | 8,030 |
| 8 to 10 kW | £12,688 | £5,188 | 8,505 |
| 10 to 12 kW | £13,948 | £6,448 | 3,978 |
| 12 to 14 kW | £15,366 | £7,866 | 2,824 |
| 14 to 16 kW | £15,498 | £7,998 | 1,236 |
| 16 to 18 kW | £14,817 | £7,317 | 956 |
| 18 to 20 kW | £17,878 | £10,378 | 90 |
| 20 kW or more | £24,177 | £16,677 | 454 |
| All sizes | £13,024 | £5,524 | 30,516 |
Where the figures come from
Every price on this page comes from one place: the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's statistics on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, the grant that pays towards most heat pumps in England and Wales. When an MCS certified installer finishes a job, they record what it cost on the MCS certificate. DESNZ collects those costs and publishes the middle value for each quarter and each size band.
That makes these the most useful prices available, but they have limits worth knowing. They are reported by installers, not audited invoices. They include VAT and the labour, and DESNZ says they should include the grant value, though installers may read that instruction differently. DESNZ also removes zero costs and the highest and lowest tenth of prices before working out the middle figure. The latest release, September 2026, was published on 29 October 2026. There is no official regional breakdown, so any "price in your area" you see elsewhere is not from this source.
Why size moves the price
The size of a heat pump is its heat output in kilowatts. The median air source install from July to September 2026 was 8 kW, with most falling between 6 kW and 10.2 kW. Across the 30,516 grant-funded air source jobs DESNZ counted for April 2025 to March 2026, the median price rose from £11,494 at 4 to 6 kW to £13,948 at 10 to 12 kW and £15,498 at 14 to 16 kW.
Bigger units cost more to buy, but the size also signals a bigger house or one that loses more heat, which usually means more radiators to change and a larger cylinder. A survey that oversizes the unit adds cost without adding comfort, which is why the heat-loss figures behind the size are worth seeing before you accept. Our page on the heat-loss survey explains how the size is worked out.
What an installation price covers
A quote for a heat pump installation is a bundle of separate jobs. DESNZ does not split its figures into parts, so no official source gives a price for each, but a full quote should list them:
- The survey and design: room-by-room heat loss, the unit size and the design flow temperature.
- The outdoor unit, its base or wall brackets, and the pipe run into the house.
- A hot water cylinder, and a buffer tank if the design needs one.
- Radiator changes, room by room, or underfloor heating where it is planned.
- Controls, the electrical connection and any notice to the network operator.
- Removing the old boiler, and making safe what it leaves behind.
- Commissioning, the MCS certificate and the handover documents.
If a line is missing, ask whether it is included. A quote that leaves out the radiators or the cylinder can look cheaper than one that includes them, and Ofgem expects the quote you sign to be clear and itemised, with the grant shown as a deduction.
Why two quotes for the same house differ
Within one size band, the official middle half of prices spans thousands of pounds: from £10,717 to £15,461 across all sizes in July to September 2026. The usual reasons are the ones above: how many radiators each installer thinks need changing, whether they size the cylinder or the unit differently, how hard the pipe run is, and whether the electricity supply needs work. A difference in the heat-loss figures is the one to look at first, because every other number follows from it.
A useful habit is to ask each installer the same three questions in writing: what heat loss did you calculate, what flow temperature is the system designed for, and which radiators change. Two quotes that agree on those can be compared on price; two that do not are pricing different jobs.
The grant, stated once
Most people having a heat pump fitted in England or Wales use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. It takes £7,500 off an air source or ground source heat pump. The conditions: you own the property; an MCS certified installer applies on your behalf; the heat pump replaces fossil fuel or electric heating; it is not a hybrid that keeps a boiler running alongside it. Most new builds and social housing are excluded, while self-builds can apply. The money never comes to you: the installer deducts it on the quote and claims it from Ofgem once the job is commissioned.
A higher grant of £9,000 is open only to homes with no mains gas connection where oil or LPG heating is replaced, and only for applications properly made between 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027. A capped gas meter counts as a connection. The scheme runs to 2030 while each year's budget lasts; Ofgem cannot issue vouchers after 31 December 2029. Full rules are on GOV.UK.
VAT on the installation
Installing a heat pump in a home is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, and 5% from 1 April 2027, under HMRC's notice on energy-saving materials. The relief is for the installed job: a heat pump bought on its own without installation is charged at the standard rate. If your job will be invoiced close to the end of March 2027, ask the installer which rate they will charge.
Ground source costs
Ground source heat pumps are far less common, so their figures swing from quarter to quarter. The median for April 2025 to March 2026 was £26,500 across a sample of 365; the July to September 2026 quarter alone came out at £34,630, with half between £22,348 and £53,345, at a median size of 15 kW. Most of the difference from air source is the work in the ground: trenches across a garden or one or more boreholes. The grant is the same £7,500, and the voucher allows 6 months to finish. Our ground source installation page covers the ground works.
Prices over the last year
The median air source price has edged down each quarter in the official figures: £13,437 (Oct to Dec 2025), £13,103 (Jan to Mar 2026), £12,900 (Apr to Jun 2026), £12,826 (Jul to Sep 2026). After inflation, DESNZ says the July to September 2026 median was after inflation, 14% lower than in July to September 2022. The prices by quarter guide sets out the trend.
What this page leaves out
Running costs are not here. What a heat pump costs to run depends on your electricity tariff, the system's real efficiency once installed and how much heat the home uses, and none of those come from an installation quote. What a good installation can do is give you the figures that decide it: the design flow temperature and the heat-loss calculation. If you want to talk through a quote you have been given, the form below comes to the publisher of this guide.