Vaillant aroTherm Plus R290 Air Source Heat Pump Review

Looking to have an air source heat pump (ASHP) installed and not sure which is the right one for your property? Our review today covers everything you need to know about the Vaillant aroTHERM R290 ASHP. 

Below we’ll cover:

• Our Vaillant aroTHERM Plus review in summary
• Which properties the R290 air source heat pump is suitable for 
• Vaillant heat pump prices, including installation
• The top features of the R290

In Summary: The Vaillant aroTHERM Plus Air Source Heat Pump

This review is a 5-10 minute read. Short on time? Read this quick-fire summary of the aroTHERM Plus R290 air source heat pump instead…

The Vaillant aroTHERM Plus R290 comes in 3.5kW, 5kW, 7kW, 10kW and 12kW outputs. Put simply, this air source heat pump solution is suited to the majority of small-medium residential properties in the UK. 

Heat pump prices from Vaillant mean overall installation cost is likely to sit in the region of £10,000. Unlike a gas boiler, you’ll be able to take advantage of government grants via the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. This could reduce the cost of your installation by up to £7,500. 

We focus on customer reviews, warranty and after sales care with any brand / product we review, recommend and install; Vaillant’s are up there with the best. 

You’ll get a 7-year warranty and quality after sales care. Trustpilot reviews for Vaillant sit at 4.4 stars out of 5, with 100s of people commenting on the quality of their after sales care team. And recent Which? polls mirror those reviews, with a 88% customer satisfaction rating. 

With a long warranty, efficiency as high as 503%, a low 54dB operating noise level and eco-friendly R290 refrigerant, the aroTHERM Plus R290 is one of the best air source heat pumps on the market. 

‍Use our clickable tool here to get prices on-screen for your Vaillant aroTHERM Plus within a couple of minutes.   

Which Properties is The Vaillant aroTHERM Plus ASHP Suited To?

The Vaillant aroTHERM Plus R290 is available in a few different sizes, including: 3.5kW, 5kW, 7kW, 10kW and 12kW. Used in conjunction with a uniTOWER 190L hot water cylinder, the aroTHERM Plus is generally suitable for use in properties where there is a family of up to 5.

That said, sizing for air source heat pumps isn’t a one size fits all approach. A 3-bedroom semi detached property with low hot water and heat demand may be suited to a 7kW unit. However, another 3-bed semi-detached property might be better suited to a 10kW or higher. 

There are dozens of factors that include what size heat pump you need, including: 

• Square footage of your property
• Radiator size and efficiency
• Quantity of bathtubs and separate showers
• The temperature you run your central heating at
• And more…!

Vaillant has made sure that their R290 is versatile and can be efficient in most residential and commercial properties. For hard to heat homes or extremely large properties with high hot water and heating demand, up to 7 heat pumps can be used in a single property.

To double check this is the right unit, you can jump over to our heat pumps page here. Our “Heat Pump Quote” tool will take into account all the most important specs of your property, and suggest the right size heat pump. 

Still confused about what size heat pump you need? There’s a more detailed guide to heat pump sizing here. 

Installation Costs For Vaillant Heat Pumps

Heat pumps aren’t particularly cheap to install. As a ballpark figure a combi boiler replacement for an average 3-bedroom property is generally around £3,000. The equivalent air source heat pump would be somewhere in the region of £10,000-£12,000. 

But remember, government grants for gas boilers are few and far between. Installing a heat pump? You could be eligible for a grant of up to £7,500 thanks to the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme. 

Essentially, the installation prices will end up being roughly the same. And you’ll have the benefit of a unit that provides over 300% efficiency, rather than a new gas boiler that tends to sit in the 88%-94% range. 

Using our air source heat pump clickable tool, we were able to get a fixed price on-screen within 2-minutes. Click over to our tool, and it will suggest the most suitable ASHP for your property.

If you have questions about our Vaillant R290 review or anything relating to heat pumps, feel free to contact our experts here.

Vaillant Reviews

Whilst this review focuses specifically on the aroTHERM Plus R290, it’s always worth digging around company reviews before investing this kind of cash. 

Why? Because the quality of the unit isn’t all that matters. Air source heat pumps like the R290 from Vaillant can last up to 25 years, so you want to make sure you’re getting a heat pump from a brand that has good after sales care. 

A recent Which? survey showed that customer satisfaction for Vaillant users sits at 88%, with the majority saying they’d recommend the brand to others. And Trustpilot reviews seem to match up closely with that consensus.

Vaillant reviews on Trustpilot average 4.4 stars out of 5, from over 20,000 reviews. And this is the exact type of review we like to see from a heating brand; Vaillant is well known for offering some of the best after sales care in the industry.  

Top Features of The Vaillant aroTHERM Plus

We’ve covered which types of properties the aroTHERM Plus is suitable for, expected installation costs and customer reviews. Below we’ll cover some of the most important features of the Vaillant R290 air source heat pump. 

Long Warranty

If you’ve already read other air source heat pump reviews, you’ll see a lot of manufacturer’s only provide 2-years warranty. For a heating system that costs this much, this simply isn’t enough. 

It makes little sense to save a £200 or so to end up with an ASHP that’s got a short warranty. Just like gas boilers, when something goes wrong, parts and labour can soon amount to £500+ per repair. 

We fit the Vaillant aroTHERM Plus R290 with a comprehensive 7-year warranty. You can jump over to our heat pump clickable form to get Vaillant heat pump prices on-screen, and compare them directly to other brands we install. 

High Efficiency

The average heat pump will have an efficiency rating of around 300%. For every 1kWh of electricity used, it’s able to produce 3kWh of heat. And that’s impressive when you compare it to gas boilers which sit in the 70%-94% range; 0.70kW-0.94kW of heat produced for every 1kW of gas they consume. 

However, this simply doesn’t compare to the Vaillant R290, given it’s one of the most efficient air source heat pumps on the market. 

The Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP) rating of the R290 is up to 5.03, meaning at times, it can be working at up to 503% efficiency (5.03kWh of heat produced for every 1kWh of electricity consumed). 

Low Noise

Whether you’re buying a dishwasher, boiler or air source heat pump, looking for Quiet Mark certified products is always advisable. Essentially, Quiet Mark only certifies products that are considered below average in terms of noise. 

The Vaillant R290 air source heat pump is Quiet Mark approved, due to it operating at just 54dB. Whilst this would be slightly noisier than a brand new boiler, remember air source heat pumps are installed outside, and boilers are installed inside. 

Essentially, you’ll hear much more noise from a boiler fitted indoors, than the R290 fitted outside. You can jump over to our clickable air source heat pump form here and get a fixed price on-screen on a range of pumps, including the Vaillant R290.

‍R290 refrigerant

Vaillant uses R290 refrigerant in this unit, lowering the GWP (Global Warming Potential) in comparison to other units on the market. Their GWP rating on the aroTHERM Plus is 3, which is comparable to some of the most eco-friendly units on the market. 

Using this type of refrigerant means that the Vaillant aroTHERM Plus R290 needs 75% less filling quantity when compared directly to less eco-friendly air source heat pumps available in the UK.

Operating Temperatures

Unlike cheaper systems, Vaillant's R290 has no problem operating at a 75°C flow temperature when needed. Typical flow temperatures on a lot of ASHPs in the UK maxes out at between 35°C-55°C.

And of course, we're hardly blessed with the best weather in the UK, so the fact that the aroTHERM Plus is able to operate at temperatures down to -25°C is also a huge benefit. 

Ready to get your heat pump installed? Use our clickable quote form here, and get prices on-screen within a couple of minutes.

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