Get a Heat Pump

To claim the BUS grant, you'll need to check off the following:

• You'll need to own your home.
• You'll need to have an EPC from the past 10 years. If you don't, no worries.
  We can arrange that for you.
• You'll need to check you have enough space for your new system. Check out our sizing guide here.
• If your home is undergoing renovation you'll need to wait until it's complete. In the meantime, here are some tips to help you on your way.

A heat pump extracts heat from the air outside and brings it into the home using electricity. This means you get a bigger quantity of heat with less electrical power usage.

Air-source heat pumps give you comfortable, consistent heating and hot water. But with…

• Less energy: Heat pumps use up to 4x less energy than even the most efficient boilers to generate the same amount of heat.
• Less carbon: That efficiency means you’ll instantly slash your heat carbon footprint by around 80%. Plus, they run on electricity, which gets greener every year.
• Longer life: A heat pump can last 20 years – up to twice as long as a gas boiler.

Visit our Heat Pump Hub to find out more.

How does a heat pump compare to a gas boiler?

From our research, we found homeowners with a heat pump are generally happier with their heating than those with a gas boiler.

We surveyed 2,300 customers to find out how satisfied they were with their heating system, including heat pump owners and gas boiler owners. The results showed that:

• 90% of heat pump owners were satisfied with how warm it kept their home, compared to 80% of gas boiler owners.
  
• Heat pump customers gave their heating system a 7 out of 10 rating in terms of cost-effectiveness, while gas boiler owners rated theirs at 6.

Making home improvements is really exciting, and a heat pump could be the icing on the cake! If you’re planning to make structural changes (like knocking down a wall or adding an extension), you will need to wait for the renovation to be complete before we can begin designing your heat pump.

This is because big changes will alter the overall heat loss and thermal performance of your property. We tailor your heat pump design specifically to your home, so if the layout changes, the needs of your heat pump will too. This means your heat pump may end up being too small or less efficient, and cost you more money in the long run. Your heat pump may also no longer meet MCS requirements, which is needed for the government grant.

However, there are some things you can factor into your renovation plans now to get your home heat pump ready:

• Underfloor heating/ radiators - underfloor heating is the perfect partner for heat pumps or larger, higher output radiators to accommodate the lower flow temp. Just let your contractor know you're planning to match it with a heat pump and they'll find the right emitters for you.
• Pipework - you'll need a minimum pipe size of 15mm for a conventional heat pump. If you have smaller pipes, they can still work well but you may need a more bespoke system.
• Space - think about where you'll be placing your heat pump (outside) and water cylinder (inside) - the closer together, the better!
• Insulation - renovation can be a prime time to add more insulation to your property, which will make your heating more efficient (whatever system you have)

Please get back in touch once your renovation is structurally complete and we'll be happy to give you a heat pump quote.

Our heat pumps start at £500 for a standard installation (including the £7,500 government grant). For larger or more complex homes, costs will be higher, but even with that in mind, almost all our quotes are lower than the national average of £5,565.

All we need is a few details to generate a tailored quote for your home. We’ll use the info you give, as well as your home’s energy performance certificate (EPC) from the national database, to calculate your fixed price.

We'll be able to let you know exactly what you need and how much it costs, including necessary additional works after your no obligation home survey. Find out more about potential additional costs in the Cost, grants and savings section.

In September we announced our new 'Cosy 6' heat pump- our super-smart, super-green new Octopus heat pump! We have now started to install our smallest model 'Cosy 6', alongside our current heat pump range. If you are interested please sign up as usual at our Octopus heat pump page and we'll let you know which options are available to you once your survey is complete.

Interested in buying a heat pump?

Call us: 0808 196 6842
Email: heat@octopus.energy
(our phone lines are open 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday)

Need support after installation?

Call us: 0808 175 1696
Email: aftercare@octoes.com
(Our aftercare phone line is open 8am – 8pm Monday to Saturday, 10am - 6pm Sunday. Or we answer emails 7 days a week, so we’ll be on hand to help asap.)

For the fastest response, fill out this form to raise any issues. Alternatively, you can email us at heat@octopus.energy or call 0808 196 6842.

Check out our full complaints procedure here.

Heat pumps vs gas boilers

Lifespan: the expected lifespan of a gas boiler is 10-15 years, whereas a Daikin heat pump is expected to run for 15-20 years.

Heating costs: Check out our blog on heat pump running costs for a full breakdown of our running cost calculations.

Integrates with solar: If you have solar panels installed, you'll have the ability to power your heat pump on electricity generated at home.

Runs on green electricity: Heat pumps run on electricity and if you're on supply with Octopus Energy, all of our tariffs include 100% renewable electricity.

Product-specific smart tariff: If you have a heat pump installed, you'll have access to theCosy Octopus smart tariff which is specifically designed for heat pump users.

Efficiency / A heat pump is up to 4x more efficient than a gas boiler:
Heat pumps can deliver several units of heat for each unit of electricity. For every 1 kWh of electricity you put in, you could get an average of 3.1kWh heat out, which is an efficiency of 310%! This is because heat pumps don’t create heat, but move existing heat from nature into your home (like an air conditioner or refrigerator, but in reverse).

Alternatively, when you burn stuff to generate heat (like gas, oil, or wood), you are instead creating heat by converting matter to energy - so you can never get more than one unit of heat for each unit of energy you burn. Gas boilers in UK homes are only around 85.3% efficient, so for every 1 kWh of gas you put in, you get around 0.853kWh of heat out, which is nearly 4x less efficient than a heat pump (3.1/0.853 = 3.6).

These are typical install efficiencies as seen from government funded studies of gas boilers and heat pumps installed in real homes. Our own installations are typically higher efficiency than the ones shown in this study.

94% of our heat pump quotes beat the national average:
We compared all of our heat pump quotes for Oct to Dec 2023 to the UK national average installation cost, which government
publish here every quarter.

We found that 94% of our Octopus quotes were below the national average price of £6,082.

This includes the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant of £7,500.

Cut carbon emissions by around 80% with a heat pump:
This is the typical reduction in heating carbon emissions using an electric powered heat pump compared to a gas boiler, based on the following calculation:

Gas CO2 = (A/C*D) = 2.35 tonnes

Electricity CO2 = (A/B*E) = 0.45 tonnes

Carbon saving = 1.9 tonnes or 82%

Where A - E are:

A - 9,250 MWh typical energy demand for a medium use property (according to Ofgem).

B - 3 heat pump seasonal coefficient of performance

C - new boiler efficiency of 82.5% (BEIS study)

D - Gas fuel emissions of 210 gCO2/kWh (SAP 10.2)

E - Electricity fuel emissions of 136 gCO2/kWh (SAP 10.2)

See our cost to run blog for the full set of calculations and assumptions

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