How Much Does a Heat Pump Cost in the UK in 2026? (Reading Edition)

In short

The median UK air source heat pump installation cost £13,041 in 2025/26 according to government Boiler Upgrade Scheme data. The typical range is £8,000–£14,000 before grants. After the £7,500 BUS grant, most homeowners pay between £500 and £6,500 to switch from a gas boiler to a heat pump. Prices have fallen 11% in real terms since the scheme launched in 2022 and have been essentially flat through 2025/26 — heat pumps are now meaningfully cheaper than they were three years ago.

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On this page

• The headline figures
• What’s actually in that £13,041
• What makes one Reading home cost more than another
• Why prices have come down (and where they’re heading)
• The £7,500 grant + 0% VAT — how the headline price gets cut
• Running costs — the honest picture
• Heat pump vs gas boiler — the actual trade-off
• Ground source and air-to-air — when they make sense
• What this means for homes in Reading

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The headline figures

The most authoritative single figure for what a UK air source heat pump costs to install in 2026 is the median figure published by Nesta, drawing on Ofgem’s administration data for every install supported by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. For 2025/26 that figure is £13,041.

Figure	Value (2026)
Median UK ASHP install (full retail, before grants)	£13,041
Typical full-install range	£8,000–£14,000
Wider range (simple to complex retrofits)	£7,000–£18,000
Net cost after £7,500 BUS grant	£500–£6,500 (typical)
Ground source heat pump install	£20,000–£30,000+
Air-to-air heat pump install (5 kW, 3–4 rooms)	£2,500–£4,500
Annual servicing	£150–£300
Comparable new gas boiler install	~£3,000

The median figure is reliable because it’s calculated from the population of actual BUS-supported installs — these are installer quotes that homeowners accepted and Ofgem signed off on, not industry estimates. The range matters because individual properties vary materially; the median is the centre of gravity, not what you should expect to pay personally.

For a quote on your specific Reading property, the survey is the only way to land a figure. The headline figures here exist to set a realistic expectation before you book one.

What’s actually in that £13,041

A “fully installed” heat pump quote typically covers everything between the existing-boiler-removal point and the working heat pump on the day of commissioning. Broken down at the line-item level, that’s:

• The heat pump unit itself: £3,000–£7,000 depending on output size (typically 4–12 kW for UK homes) and manufacturer
• Hot water cylinder, valves, controls, and fittings: £1,500–£4,000
• Labour, internal pipework, and electrical work: included
• MCS heat-loss survey and commissioning documentation: included (the survey is non-negotiable — MCS-certified installers are required to carry out a room-by-room heat loss calculation)

Then there are line items that appear on the quote where the property needs them — these all sit within the same install total:

• Radiator upgrades where existing radiators are undersized for a heat pump’s lower flow temperature: £1,000–£3,000. Heat pumps run at 35–55°C flow temperatures vs a gas boiler’s 70°C, so older or smaller radiators may not put out enough heat at those lower temperatures.
• Mains electrical upgrades if the existing supply is undersized for the heat pump’s draw.
• Cylinder retrofit for properties that have only had a combi boiler (no existing cylinder).

For modern homes built or refurbished to early-2000s insulation standards, existing radiators are often retained — the install lands towards the lower end. For Victorian and Edwardian terraces, radiator upgrades are the most common item pushing the install towards the upper end.

What makes one Reading home cost more than another

Five factors do most of the work explaining why one Reading install lands at £8,500 and another at £14,000:

1. Heat-loss requirement. A larger or less-insulated property needs a larger heat pump (more kW) and more delivery infrastructure. Most UK installs now sit in the 4–12 kW range; the share of larger installs (12 kW+) has fallen from 35% at BUS launch in 2022 to 18% today as the market has shifted to better-matched systems.
2. Existing radiator condition. Modern radiators sized for a 70°C gas-boiler flow often need upgrading for a heat pump’s 35–55°C flow. Older period radiators are upgraded more frequently; mid-range and recent radiators are more often retained.
3. Hot-water cylinder. Properties with no cylinder (combi-boiler homes) need one fitted, adding cost. Properties with an existing unvented cylinder may need replacement if it’s undersized or incompatible.
4. Mains electrical supply. Some older properties have an undersized supply that needs upgrading by the Distribution Network Operator before a heat pump can be commissioned. Cost varies and may not always be quotable upfront — our survey will flag this if relevant.
5. Property access and complexity. Listed-building constraints, conservation-area planning input, awkward outdoor-unit siting, and long internal pipework runs all add labour. None of these are barriers to installation — they’re just cost variables.

For a complete picture of what to expect on a quote — including items that aren’t included in the headline figure — see our guide on hidden costs and what’s not in a heat pump quote.

Why prices have come down (and where they’re heading)

The strongest evidence-based signal in the UK heat pump cost picture is the 11% real-terms fall in median install cost since 2022 [Nesta / Ofgem BUS data]. The 2025/26 figure of £13,041 is up just 0.4% on the prior year — essentially flat — after several years of consistent decline.

Two drivers of the fall:

• Shift towards smaller, better-matched systems as installers’ design discipline has improved. The 12 kW+ share has nearly halved, and most current installs sit in the 4–10 kW range that matches well-insulated UK homes.
• Genuine price softening across most size bands. The 4–6 kW band is the exception — prices in that range rose 11% in 2025/26 — but other bands have been stable or falling.

In volume terms, BUS supported 30,600 air source heat pump installations in 2025/26, up 24% on the prior year. The market is growing while prices are stable — typically a healthy combination for buyers, since it suggests installers have hit a sustainable price point rather than discounting to fill capacity.

The honest read for the next 12–24 months: prices are unlikely to fall further in real terms (the market has matured), but the £7,500 grant and 0% VAT relief make the net cost to a homeowner unusually favourable right now. From April 2027 onwards, that VAT relief steps up from 0% to 5%, which we cover below.

The £7,500 grant + 0% VAT — how the headline price gets cut

Two government-backed reductions stack on a 2026 install:

Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant: £7,500 (air-to-water air source heat pump). Paid to the installer and deducted from your quote directly — you never handle BUS money yourself. Air-to-air heat pumps get £2,500 instead. For the full picture of how the grant works and who qualifies, see our BUS grant guide.

0% VAT until 31 March 2027. Heat pump installations are zero-rated for VAT under the energy-saving-materials VAT relief until 31 March 2027 (gov.uk VAT Notice 708/6). For a typical install, this saves the homeowner £750–£2,000 compared to standard 20% VAT. From 1 April 2027, the rate reverts to 5% — the reduced rate for energy-saving materials. That step-up adds around £650 on a median install. It’s worth knowing the date if you’re considering an install in 2026 or early 2027, but it’s not a “rush” — the 5% rate is still much lower than standard, and the BUS grant is by far the bigger lever on net cost.

For a median £13,041 install under current rules:

• Pre-grant: £13,041 (with 0% VAT already factored in)
• Less BUS grant: £13,041 − £7,500 = £5,541 net to homeowner
• For homes at the lower end of the range (£8,000): net cost could be as low as £500
• For homes at the upper end (£18,000): net cost ~£10,500

For your specific property, the only meaningful figure is the one on your quote — these are population-level averages, not predictions about what any individual house will cost.

For a deeper look at the cost mechanics including all available grants and finance options, see our heat pump cost and BUS grant guide.

Running costs — the honest picture

This is where the data gets more nuanced, and where the customer-facing picture in the UK heat pump market has tended to over-promise. The honest answer is: it depends on three things — your electricity tariff, your installation quality, and your home’s insulation level.

The published figures vary widely, and that variance is meaningful information:

• On the Ofgem standard tariff (Q1 2026: 24.5p/kWh electricity, 6.4p/kWh gas), an air source heat pump runs at approximately £840/year for heating in a typical UK home, compared with £835/year for a gas boiler. That’s near parity, with the heat pump running roughly 12% more on standard tariffs.
• On a heat-pump-specific tariff (such as Octopus Cosy, Cosy Octopus, or EDF Heat Pump), the same heat pump costs 20–35% less to run than a gas boiler. The heat-pump tariffs charge a lower per-kWh rate during the hours when heat pumps typically run.
• The DESNZ comparison model — which uses a lower assumed efficiency (SCOP 3.2) — puts gas at £760/year vs a heat pump at £1,450. That’s the worst-case scenario, where the installed system underperforms.

The unflattering data point worth being upfront about: in a HomeOwners Alliance survey, 66% of heat pump owners reported that their homes were more expensive to heat than their previous system. That’s a real signal, and it has identifiable causes:

• A homeowner left on the standard electricity tariff rather than switched to a heat-pump tariff is materially worse off
• A poorly-sized or poorly-installed heat pump runs at a lower SCOP and uses more electricity
• A poorly-insulated property loses heat faster, so the heat pump runs longer and harder

What the 66% figure does not mean is that heat pumps inherently cost more to run. In a properly-sized, properly-installed system, on a heat-pump tariff, in a home with reasonable insulation, the running cost is at or below a gas boiler’s. The variance between the survey outcome and the well-installed outcome is real, and it’s the variance that our survey is designed to surface and address before you commit.

Over a 20-year lifespan, Energy Saving Trust and Ofgem price-cap projections estimate a heat pump saves approximately £3,900 vs gas — but that figure depends materially on the future trajectory of gas vs electricity prices and your tariff choices over that period.

For a detailed running-cost breakdown including tariff-specific calculations, see our heat pump running costs guide.

Heat pump vs gas boiler — the actual trade-off

The headline trade-off:

	Heat pump (air-to-water)	New gas boiler
Install cost (typical)	£8,000–£14,000	~£3,000
Government grant available	£7,500 (BUS)	None
Net install cost (typical)	£500–£6,500	~£3,000
Annual servicing	£150–£300	~£100
Running cost vs other	Depends on tariff and install quality	Stable, gas-tied
Lifespan	15–20 years	10–15 years

At net install cost, the heat pump is broadly cost-comparable to a new gas boiler — sometimes lower, sometimes higher, depending on the specific property. The running cost is where the long-term economics play out, and that depends heavily on tariff choice and install quality (above). For the 15-year cost view including all-in totals, see our heat pump vs gas boiler comparison.

Ground source and air-to-air — when they make sense

This article focuses on the standard residential air source (air-to-water) heat pump because that’s what 95%+ of UK installs are. Two other categories are worth a brief mention:

Ground source heat pump (GSHP): £20,000–£30,000+ to install, driven principally by trenching (horizontal loops) or borehole drilling (vertical loops). The £7,500 BUS grant applies. Net cost is therefore £12,500–£22,500+. Payback against gas can be 27+ years even after the grant — typically only economic for properties already off the gas grid, or where ground conditions favour low-cost shallow trenches.

Air-to-air heat pump: £2,500–£4,500 fully installed for a 5 kW system serving 3–4 rooms. £2,500 BUS grant (added April 2026). Heats and cools air directly rather than heating water for radiators — works well for smaller flats, single-room targeted heating, or properties where retrofitting radiators isn’t viable. Important caveat: air-to-air systems do not heat your domestic hot water, so a separate hot water solution is needed (typically electric immersion or a small dedicated water heat pump).

What this means for homes in Reading

The national median (£13,041) is the centre of gravity, but Reading’s housing stock distributes around it in a way worth understanding:

Modern estates in Lower Earley, Woodley, and the western expansion areas — built to 2000s insulation standards or later — typically have insulation that lets a heat pump run at lower flow temperatures, and existing radiators that often need little or no upgrade. Applying the national £8,000–£14,000 install range to Reading’s housing mix, these properties tend to land towards the lower end — closer to the simpler, lower-cost end of the range than the period-property end.

Inter-war semis in Tilehurst, Earley, Whitley, and Caversham Heights — three-bed semi-detached homes built between the wars — are the typical case in Reading. Some need a radiator or two upgraded; most don’t need major electrical work. Where in the national range a specific install lands depends on the property — typically somewhere around the middle.

Victorian and Edwardian terraces in central Reading and lower Caversham are where installs trend towards the upper end of the national range. These properties often need radiator upgrades, sometimes a cylinder retrofit if they currently have a combi boiler, and occasionally electrical work. Pre-2026 changes to BUS eligibility had blocked some of these properties on EPC and insulation grounds; that bar has been removed and the period-property pathway is now considerably clearer.

Listed buildings and conservation-area properties (parts of central Reading and Caversham Park) usually do not have heat pump install constraints on the eligibility side — the BUS grant is available. The cost side may see modest additions for planning consultation around outdoor unit siting and visual integration. Reading-specific cost figures for these additions aren’t published; your quote will reflect what your particular property and planning context requires.

The other relevant Reading-specific signal: median household income in the Reading area is above the UK average, so means-tested grants like ECO4 and HUG2 tend to be less broadly accessible locally than in some other regions. The BUS grant — which is property-targeted, not income-targeted — is the dominant route for most Reading homeowners. For an honest sense of what your specific property would cost, we offer a free in-home survey with a written quote including the £7,500 deducted up front.

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Related guides

• What’s not included in a heat pump quote — hidden costs to watch for — the line-items most likely to surprise you, and how to spot them before signing.
• The BUS grant: £7,500 towards your heat pump — the grant in detail, including the April 2026 eligibility changes.
• Heat pump payback period — the honest answer — when (and whether) the heat pump pays itself back.
• Heat pump vs gas boiler — 15-year cost comparison — the long-term economic picture.

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Get a quote for your Reading home

Population-level averages set expectations; only a survey lands a real figure for your specific property. Our team carries out a free in-home survey including a full heat-loss calculation, identifies what radiator and cylinder work (if any) your property needs, and provides a written quote with the £7,500 grant already deducted.

You’ll see the actual figure you’d pay — not an estimate.

Get a quote | Call us on 0118 [number] | Email [address]

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