Are Heat Pumps Worth It?

Overview: Are Air Source Heat Pumps Worth It?

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As air source heat pumps use a reasonable amount of electricity, it makes sense to couple them with solar panels. By doing so, you’ll be able to generate enough electricity to power your heat pump, removing your electricity bill completely!

Heat pumps work at much lower flow temperatures than gas boilers. To make your investment worth it, your property will need to have some or all of the following: 

Installation costs for heat pumps are comparable to gas boilers when accounting for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. 

A typical gas boiler replacement will cost £3,000, whereas a pump is likely to set you back £10,000. However, using the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (£7,500 in funding), you’ll only pay £2,500 on average. 

Efficiency is where heat pumps really shine. A new A-rated gas boiler will only operate at 94% efficiency, whereas a typical heat pump will operate at 300% or higher. Coupled with solar panels and large radiators, this could slash your energy bills by up to £730 per year!
Running costs for a new A-rated boiler are comparable to a heat pump. However, if you’re using something like an old G-rated boiler running on LPG, you could save up to £650 per year.

Still not sure if investing in an air source heat pump is worth it? Use our clickable tool here to determine if it is and how much installation is likely to cost for your property.

Using Heat Pumps With Solar Panels

Whilst heat pumps do consume a reasonable amount of electricity, they’re incredibly efficient. 

For example, our review of the Vaillant aroTHERM shows efficiency levels of up to 503% when conditions are optimal; the aroTHERM uses just 1kWh of electricity to produce up to 5.03kWh of heat!

The problem here is that gas is much cheaper than electricity, so even though gas boilers are less efficient, they still don’t cost much more to run. 

The more inefficient your boiler is, the more you’ll save by using a heat pump. Here are a couple of figures from the Energy Saving Trust: 

• An A-rated gas boiler will cost a similar amount to run as a heat pump
• G-rated gas boilers cost £280 per year more to run than an air source heat pump
• If you’re using electric storage heaters, you could save over £700 per year by switching to a heat pump

The biggest savings come by combining your heat pump with solar panels. If you use an old G-rated boiler, by switching to a heat pump you’ll save approximately £280 and a further £450 per year via solar panels!

The average property in the UK is going to use a 4kW solar panel system. By using the electricity generated by solar panels to power your air source heat pump, you'll see a payback period (return on investment) in the region of 7-15 years. 

The payback period will vary depending on factors such as:

Get more specific estimates on potential savings by using our heat pump tool here. 

Which Properties Are Most Suited To Heat Pumps?

You'll find that most manufacturers have a range of different heat pumps, suited to different properties; heat pumps are worth buying if you can find a suitable unit for your property.

If you jump over to our guide covering the best air source heat pumps you'll see we list the:

• Vaillant aroTHERM R290: A high temperature heat pump (75°C) suitable for older properties that aren't well insulated
• Samsung Quiet R32: Working at just 35dB, it's the perfect heat pump for those properties where the installation area is close to, or, under a window
• Ideal Logic Air R32: With a SCOP rating of 4.69 at 40°C, it works well with properties with a high EPC rating
• Grant Aerona R32: With units available offering outputs of up to 17kW, this is the best choice for large properties that have high heat demand

But, heat pump installations become even more worthwhile for properties that have all or some of the following: 

Large radiators

Heat pumps work at much lower flow temperatures than gas boilers. For your investment to be worth it, it’s worth upgrading to much larger radiators so your heat pump can work “low and slow”. 

A gas boiler will run at a flow temperature of 60°C or higher whereas a heat pump will run at around 40°C-50°C. 

Each degree increase in flow temperature results in decreased efficiency. By using larger radiators (bigger surface area but heated to a lower temperature), you’ll see improvements in efficiency and a reduction in your utility bills.

Underfloor Heating

Underfloor heating works in a similar way to a heat pump, working “low and slow” rather than at full-tilt. 

If your property has underfloor heating rather than radiators, you’ll see a huge bump in efficiency from your heat pump and therefore, a big reduction in your energy bills. 

Quality Insulation

Properties with high-grade insulation work best with heat pumps. If your property has high quality insulation (usually found in new-builds), a heat pump is going to be worth it; your property will be able to retain heat generated by your pump!

Comparison: Heat Pumps Vs Gas Boilers

The best way to decide if an air source heat pump is worth it, is to directly compare it to a gas boiler. 

Installation Costs

Expect a new A-rated boiler for the average property to cost in the region of £3,000. This would get you a quality unit from one of the most reliable boiler brands such as: Worcester, Vaillant, Ideal or Alpha. 

In comparison, a typical air source heat pump installation will cost around £10,000. However, it’s worth mentioning that there are heat pump grants available from the UK government. 

The most commonly used government grant? The Boiler Upgrade Scheme. You’ll have access to £7,500 funding, bringing the total cost of installation for your heat pump down to £2,500; cheaper than a gas boiler!

You can read our detailed guide covering heat pump installation costs here, or, jump over to our clickable tool to get fixed prices on-screen for your heat pump. 

Efficiency

The next thing to determine before deciding if a heat pump is worth it, is exactly how efficient they are. 

We’ve written guides covering the efficiency of both gas boilers and heat pumps: 

• The most efficient gas boilers
• The most efficient air source heat pumps

When buying a new boiler, you'll want an A-rated one… 

The majority of new boilers from leading brands such as Viessmann, Worcester Bosch, Ideal Heating and Vaillant are A-rated. This will get you a boiler that works at around 94% efficiency; it will consume 1kWh of gas for every 0.94kWh of heat it produces. 

Air source heat pumps are much more efficient. Our shortlist shows that the top 8 most efficient units work at anywhere between 3.22-3.96 SCOP. In short, that's 322%-396% efficiency, or, they use 1kWh of electricity for every 3.22-3.96kWh of heat they produce. 

The disparity between their efficiency levels only increase for those properties using older boilers, as their efficiency won’t be anywhere near 94%, as you can see from this graphic produced by the Energy Saving Trust: 

‍Running Costs

A new A-rated gas boiler is on-par with an air source heat pump in terms of running costs. If you have anything but an A-rated boiler, investing in a heat pump is worth it; you’ll see huge savings when it comes to your utility bills. 

As an example, a G-rated boiler will work at around 70% efficiency; not at the 94% of an A-rated boiler. By switching to an air source heat pump from your old and unreliable G-rated boiler, you should expect to save around £280 per year. This assumes you'd also upgrade your radiators for larger ones in order to maximise your heat pumps efficiency.

If you have a G-rated boiler, but it runs LPG, these savings spike to a massive £650 per year on average. 

Heat your property using old electric storage heaters? You could see savings of up to £1,200 per year!

In summary, if you have an A-rated boiler in a well insulated house, expect your energy bills to stay the same. 

If you have an old and inefficient boiler (gas, oil, LPG) or even electric storage heaters, upgrading to an air source heat pump is absolutely worth it!

Get your fixed price on-screen for your heat pump using our clickable tool here. 

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