How to get a heat pump: quotes, grants and the routes that make sense
In England and Wales, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme takes £7,500 off the cost of installing an air-source heat pump if your home is eligible. It isn't the right system for every home, and a good install matters as much as the price. There are two honest routes to quotes, and here's how each works.
By Tom Calder · Updated 10 September 2026
In England and Wales, every route below assumes the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant (£9,000 for off-gas-grid oil or LPG homes, on new applications from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027). Your installer claims it and deducts it from your quote. See who's eligible and how it works →
Local MCS-certified installers
The gold-standard route: a certified local firm surveys your home, designs the system around it, and claims the grant for you. Use the official MCS register to find certified installers near you, then ask three for a survey and quote.
Find MCS installers near youOfficial MCS 'find an installer' tool — free, not an ad.
National online installers
National firms give you an online estimate, survey your home before confirming the price, then handle the install and the grant paperwork. Ask what the survey costs before you book: some firms charge for it and take it off the final bill if you go ahead. They make a useful benchmark against local quotes. Both firms below were on the MCS register when we checked on 10 September 2026, but look any installer up yourself before you sign.
Affiliate links: the firm may pay us a fee if you request a quote. It costs you nothing.
Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you request a quote through them, the firm may pay us a fee, at no cost to you, and different firms pay different amounts. It never changes which routes we recommend, and the free MCS register comes first. The MCS register link is not an affiliate link.
Before you get quotes
Four things separate a heat pump that works well from one that disappoints — and all four are decided before installation, not after:
- 1Insist on a heat-loss survey
A proper survey sizes the system to your actual home. Walk away from anyone quoting off a rule of thumb — it's the single biggest cause of a heat pump that underperforms.
- 2Check the MCS certification
The installer and the equipment both have to be MCS-certified for the grant to apply. You can look a firm up on the MCS register before you sign anything.
- 3Get three quotes
Prices and system designs vary a lot. Three quotes tells you what's reasonable and flushes out anyone cutting corners on the survey or radiator sizing.
- 4Line up the right tariff
A heat-pump or time-of-use electricity tariff is what makes the running costs stack up. Sort this before you switch on — on a standard tariff the savings often don't appear.
Common questions
How do I get quotes for a heat pump?
Two routes work well. Use the official MCS 'find an installer' tool to find certified local firms and ask three of them for a survey and quote; or get an online estimate from a national installer, which surveys your home before confirming the price and handles the grant paperwork. Either way, make sure the installer is MCS-certified — it's required to claim the £7,500 grant.
Do I need to apply for the grant myself?
No. Whichever route you choose, your MCS-certified installer applies for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant through Ofgem on your behalf and deducts it from your quote. You don't fill in a government form.
Are national online installers cheaper than local ones?
Not necessarily. An online estimate is quick to get, but the price is only confirmed after a survey, and a good local installer who surveys your home carefully can design a more efficient (and sometimes cheaper) system. Comparing a national firm's quote against local quotes is a sensible way to sanity-check the price.
Get told when the grant rules change
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant has moved twice. One calm email if it changes again, or if eligibility widens. No noise, no sales calls.