How two homeowners scored a heat pump with their mortgage (and how you could too!)
When you secure a new mortgage, the biggest milestone is usually finally getting your hands on the keys. If you’re lucky, you might get a “congratulations” card in the post. You certainly don't expect your lender to help foot the bill for a brand-new, low-carbon heating system!
But late last year, Lloyds Bank did exactly that. If you accepted your first illustration to take out a new mortgage or switch deals with them between mid-October and late November, they offered to help pay for a standard heat pump installation by us here at Octopus Energy. And crucially, if you fall into that camp, you still have time to take them up on it.
Psst: this only applies if you’re eligible for the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, but most homeowners in England are — check out the rules here.
A heat pump installation with us typically costs roughly £4,500 after the government grant, so that’s quite an impressive housewarming gift! And it unlocks further savings: Cosy heat pump customers on our special smart tariff shaved an average of £219 off their heating bills last year versus gas.
We chatted to two customers: James and Rita. They explained how the installations went, what their homes feel like now, and why the reality of living with a heat pump completely busts the pub myths.
James and his wife, Charlotte
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Smooth sailing and toddler toolboxes
Getting a new heating system sounds like a massive faff, but for both James and Rita, the reality was surprisingly relaxing. We popped round to do an assessment to make sure their homes were suitable and then the teams got straight to work.
James was chuffed with how quickly it all came together. “I can't really find any fault with the install at all,” he says, noting that the Octopus crew originally quoted less than five days but wrapped it up in three and a half. They started on Monday and by Friday afternoon, a company had already whisked the waste away. “You get a few days of disruption, but straight after you're pretty much tidy again.”
My daughter followed the installers around with her little toolbox. They gave her six Octopus plushies!
For Rita, the installation was a family affair, mostly thanks to her very enthusiastic four-year-old. “The installation team was brilliant the whole time they were here,” Rita says.
“My daughter wanted to help and followed the guys around with her little toolbox.”
The team were utterly charmed and every single engineer gave her an Octopus plushie.
“So she now has five small ones and one big one!”
Busting the noise and space myths
Before upgrading, both James and Rita had heard the usual grumbles: heat pumps are loud, they eat up half your house, and you have to rip out every radiator you own. The reality? Not quite.
“We have a 9.5kW system, so it's a big heat pump,” James explains. “Actually, the noise level is really low. It’s a bit of a myth that they're really noisy. You don't really know it's there.”
Rita confirms the same thing. “You can hear it outside, but it's not a loud, annoying sound. During the day, with normal traffic and TV noise, I don't notice it at all.”
And what about the space inside? Instead of losing room, Rita actually gained some, especially in the most important room of the house. “I used to have a kitchen cupboard completely full of pipes,” she says gleefully.
“Now, that's all gone, and I’ve gained two whole cupboards in the kitchen and extra space in my airing cupboard.”
No more thermostat wars
With a traditional gas boiler, we’re all used to micromanaging the heating: blasting it before we wake up, shivering in cold patches, furiously tweaking radiator valves. Heat pumps work differently, ticking along to maintain a steady, toasty temperature all day.
“It’s just so easy,” Rita says. With her old gas boiler, she had schedules for absolutely everything. “Since having the heat pump installed, I don't even have to think about it. I haven't had to touch the settings; the house just effortlessly stays at 21°C all day.” It’s also brought some serious peace of mind at bedtime. “My daughter kicks off all her covers at night, so I used to always worry she would get really cold. Now, I don't have to worry.”
Solar panels work really, really well with a heat pump. My energy bill for this month has been incredible
James agrees entirely. “You don't have to do anything. You just get an even temperature across all the rooms. Previously we would mess around with turning the radiator valves up and down, but now we barely touch them.”
He believes strongly that while people worry about heat pump efficiency, the real culprit is usually a leaky house. “If you insulate your house well, you're going to use less energy. If you then introduce a heat pump, you're getting the total efficiency of the system combined with your insulation.”
Here comes the sun
You absolutely don't need solar panels to get brilliant results from a heat pump. But if you do combine them, a little bit of magic happens. Both James and Rita have done exactly that, creating the ultimate low-cost, green-energy dream team. “Solar panels work really, really well with a heat pump,” James says. “My energy bill for this month has been incredible.”
Rita has been super smart with her setup, scheduling her water to heat between midday and 1:00 PM to catch peak solar production. “We generate enough electricity that, even when it rains, I probably won’t ever have to pay to heat the water.”
In fact, her setup is so good she’s practically become an Octopus ambassador at the NHS lab where she works. “We have a team of over 50 people, and working in a contained space, we all talk!” she laughs. After showing off her app to prove how much electricity she sells back to the grid, two of her colleagues have already gone ahead and installed their own solar panels.
How the Lloyds magic works (and how to check if you still qualify!)
If you accepted your first illustration for a new Lloyds mortgage (or switched deals) between 15 October and 24 November 2025, you could still get your hands on this deal. Because you have a full year from your mortgage completion date to get the pump fitted, there's still plenty of time to book in your install.
What the offer includes:
The tech: Lloyds tops up the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant to cover the cost of an air source heat pump (either an Octopus Energy Cosy 6, Cosy 9, Cosy 12 or Daikin), a compatible hot water cylinder, any radiators that are needed, and all the plumbing and electrical work to our design standards.
The guarantees: Installations come with an 8-year product warranty for our Cosy pumps (5 years for other brands), plus a 5-year labour and workmanship warranty.
The criteria: You need to qualify for the government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme (which we’ll check for you), hold a Club Lloyds account and your home needs to be in England and have an EPC rating of C or D. Check out the finer points here.
Of course, standard terms apply. If your home needs extra work outside the standard install — think tricky groundwork or asbestos removal — you’d have to arrange and pay for that bit first. If your home just isn't suitable for a heat pump, the install won’t be able to happen. And as always, exact energy savings depend on the quirks of your own property.
Our claims explained
£4,459 is the median post-survey price from all of our heat pump quotes between 9 January and 29 February 2026 after the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme was applied.
This figure is based on the actual energy consumption of all Cosy heat pump customers on a Cosy Octopus tariff between 19 March 2025 and 18 March 2026, using tariff rates at the time.
We compared this to the cost of producing the same amount of heat with a gas boiler operating at 85% efficiency, priced using our Flexible Octopus (standard variable) tariff at the same time.
Savings from gas standing charges were included only for customers who had fully removed their gas supply (less than 3% of customers).
Actual savings vary depending on system design, tariff choice, home insulation and energy use.
Published on 6th May 2026 by:
Nicki Slater-Arnold
Writer