Vaillant Air Source Heat Pump Running & Installation Costs

In Summary: What You Need To Know About Vaillant Heat Pump Prices

If you’re stuck for time, bookmark this page for later, and read this summary covering Vaillant heat pump costs instead…

With Vaillant’s aroTHERM Plus heat pump hitting up to 436% efficiency (4.36 SCOP rating) at a flow temperature of 35°C, it’s one of the most efficient heat pumps on the market. And that also means it’s one of the units with the lowest running costs. Coupled with a solar panel setup, you could get rid of your electricity bill completely!

Thanks to this high efficiency, the majority of UK households using this unit are eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. The £7,500 grant translates to costs for a Vaillant pump installed in a 3-bedroomed semi-detached house, being as low as £3,242.33.

And finally, before choosing a heat pump, you’ll want to check out both customer reviews and manufacturer’s warranty. Over 78% of the 20,000+ reviews on Trustpilot rate the Vaillant brand as 5 star, and when fitted by Dwellow, their aroTHERM Plus heat pump comes with a 7-year warranty.

You can get Vaillant heat pump prices on-screen using our heat pump configuration tool here. 

Vaillant Heat Pump Installation Costs

Below we’ll explain average installation costs for Vaillant heat pumps, as well as covering the most popular government grants for low-carbon property upgrades.

Government Installation Grants

Before we dig into specific Vaillant heat pump prices by property type, it’s worth explaining government grants on offer. 

Whilst there are government grants whereby you could get a free air source heat pump, they are few and far between. However, most households in the UK are going to be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). 

As we’ve detailed on our page covering air source heat pump grants here, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme entitles most UK households to £7,500 in funding. 

So, whilst the prices for Vaillant heat pumps you see on many installers may be in the £10,000-£15,000 range, there’s £7,500 to be discounted off that price. 

The criteria for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme includes:

• Being the owner of the property you plan to install your Vaillant heat pump in; this can be a buy-to-let, second home or even a business premises
• Not have received funding for a central heating upgrade from the government in the past
• Not be planning a hybrid system upgrade that uses a gas boiler in conjunction with an air source heat pump
• Use an MCS registered installer, and ensure that they complete your Vaillant heat pump installation (and commission it), within 120 days of you applying for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant

To apply? Simply use our heat pump upgrade tool here. 

This will suggest the most suitably sized unit for your property based on the details you provide us, and you’ll have prices for your Vaillant heat pump on-screen. We’ll take into account the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, and discount that from the overall cost.

Average Installation Costs

The average installation costs for Vaillant heat pumps are £3,242.33 for a 3 bedroom semi detached property; that would utilise a 5kW Vaillant pump. These costs are likely to rise to at least £4,000 for a small 4 bedroom semi detached house using a 7kW unit, or £6,500 for one using a 10kW pump. 

The price jump to a large 5 bedroom detached from a 4 bed increases even more, with costs sitting at around £7,500.

‍All of the prices listed account for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme’s £7,500 contribution to your Vaillant heat pump installation. You can get prices for heat pumps on-screen using our clickable tool here. 

Costs By Property Type

Below we’ll outline some typical installation costs for Vaillant heat pumps, based on property types including: 3 bedroom semi detached, 4 bedroom semi detached and a large 4 bedroom detached.

There are dozens of variables that affect the overall cost of a Vaillant heat pump installation, so we’ve kept the following constants when using our tool: 

• Upgrade from a gas boiler to a Vaillant heat pump
• Average central heating temperature set to 20°
• 4 people living in the property, with average hot water demand
• Suitable cylinder fitted, such as the Vaillant uniSTOR
• Vaillant sensoCOMFORT smart heating controls 
• Radiator and insulation check
• Up to 3 radiator upgrades if necessary (these help your air source heat pump to work more efficiently)
• Heat loss survey
• New EPC certificate 
• A heat pump such as the Vaillant aroTHERM Plus, which comes with a 7-year warranty

3 Bedroom Semi Detached

Using Dwellow’s clickable pump configuration tool here, we can see that a Vaillant heat pump costs just under £11,000 for a 3 bedroom semi detached house. Accounting for the government grant (BUS) that’s worth £7,500, the total installation cost would be just £3,242.33. 

Remember, each property is different to the next (square footage, radiator size and efficiency, loft insulation and so on), so it might be that even in a 3 bedroom semi detached, you’d be looking at the 7kW Vaillant aroTHERM Plus heat pump rather than the 5kW unit you see above. 

Small 4 Bedroom Semi Detached

For a small 4 bedroom semi detached property, you’d be looking at a 7kW unit or higher in comparison to the 5kW unit that’s mentioned above. Likewise, the cylinder you’d need to supply hot water in a 4 bedroom detached will also need to be bigger. 

Vaillant heat pump prices increase the larger their output is. For example, you should expect to pay approximately £500 more for the 7kW over the 5kW. The big jump really comes if your property needs a 10kW vaillant heat pump; expect to pay approximately £1,600 more than the 7kW unit mentioned above. Overall, this results in installation costs of: 

• £11,500 (discounted to £4000 after using the BUS grant) for a 7kW Vaillant heat pump, when accounting for a larger 250L cylinder
• Costs for your Vaillant heat pump rising to around £14,000 (discounted to £6,500 after using the BUS grant) for a 10kW unit

‍The actual price you pay is £7,500 less than the prices listed above, thanks to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. Get prices for Vaillant heat pumps using our clickable tool here. 

Large 4 Bedroom Detached

For a large 4 bedroom detached property, you’d be looking at a 12kW unit as a minimum. 

Prices for Vaillant heat pumps that are 12kW rather than 10kW don’t vary massively; around £500. 

But in this case, it’s likely you’d need more than just 3 radiator upgrades, which will be additional to the £500 mentioned above. Heat pumps work efficiently with much larger radiators than gas boilers. Scrimping here is only going to mean you end up with higher electricity bills than you need to. 

Expect a Vaillant heat pump installation to cost around £15,000 in a large 4 bedroom detached property with reasonable hot water and heating demand. 

The actual price you’d pay would be £7,500, given the Boiler Upgrade Scheme means most UK households benefit from a £7,500 government grant. Use this tool to determine the exact cost for your Vaillant heat pump.

Vaillant Heat Pump Running Costs

The cost of running a Vaillant heat pump will vary drastically from property to property. Just like installation costs, dozens of variables affect how much electricity your unit will consume, and its daily running costs. 

These include: 

• The overall efficiency of your property’s insulation; heat pumps work best with energy efficient properties
• The hot water demand in your property (how often are you using hot water for taps, baths and showers)
• Whether you plan to install underfloor heating; this can increase the energy efficiency of your heat pump dramatically
• Radiator sizing. Heat pumps work most efficiently when used in conjunction with radiators that have a large surface area
• The list goes on…!

As you can see, it’s hard to put an exact figure on the running costs of your Vaillant heat pump. However, expect them to be in the region of £800-£2,500 per year, which works out to £67-£208 per month. 

Vaillant heat pumps are one of the most efficient on the market. At typical flow temperatures, they are between 365-436% efficient. Compare this to a new, A-rated gas boiler; efficiency levels here won’t breach 94%. 

This is highlighted below, with the Vaillant aroTHERM Plus SCOP (Seasonal Coefficient Of Performance) ratings at common flow temperatures:

• Flow temperature of 35°C: 4.36 (436% efficient)
• Flow temperature of 40°C: 4.13 (413% efficient)
• Flow temperature of 45°C: 3.91 (391% efficient)
• Flow temperature of 50°C: 3.65 (365% efficient)

Essentially, at 35°C, the aroTHERM Plus is using 1kWh of electricity, to produce 4.36kWh of heat. This makes it one of the cheapest heat pumps in terms of overall running costs.

Should You Buy A Vaillant Heat Pump?

Whilst it’s important to explore costs before purchasing an item from any brand, just as important are company reviews. 

Taking a look at Vaillant reviews on Trustpilot, we can see Vaillant has achieved 4.4 out of 5 stars, from over 20,000 reviews. When we compare that to brands they compete against, Vaillant has a higher volume of reviews and a much better overall rating. 

Why are Vaillant’s heat pump reviews so positive on TrustPilot? 

Not only do they offer a 7-year warranty from selected installers (such as Dwellow), they have great after sales care, as can be seen from one of their recent reviews:

Costs

Both installation prices and running costs for Vaillant heat pumps are up there with the top rated heat pump brands in the UK. Their efficiency is over 3x that of a new gas boiler on average. So, not only are they eco-friendly, they’re cheap to run!

Overall, Vaillant offers exceptional value for money, giving consumers efficient heat pumps that have low running costs. And to cap it all off, they back up their products with excellent after sales service. 

Use our clickable tool here to determine which size Vaillant heat pump you need for your property, and how much it will cost.

Want to read more about Vaillant heat pumps? You can read our full review of the Vaillant aroTHERM Plus here. 

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