By Emily Rivers
Last updated 7th September 2022

An air source heat pump, also known as an air-to-water source heat pump, uses captured heat from the air outside your home to heat your central heating system and heat the water in a hot water cylinder feeding to all of your hot taps and showers.

Heat from the air is absorbed into a fluid. This fluid then passes through a heat exchanger into the heat pump, which raises the temperature and then transfers that heat to water. An  air source heat pump works on the same concept as a ground source heat pump but with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. A heat pump will deliver the heat at a lower temperature than a gas boiler, so they will need to be run for longer, but they are more energy efficient than operating a gas boiler.

Does my home have space for an air source heat pump?

Unlike a ground source heat pump, a house does not need a lot of outside space for an air source heat pump to be fitted. For the air-to-water source heat pump unit to work, there needs to be space to install the unit outside against an exterior wall with free space around the unit for good airflow.

The outdoor unit of an air source heat pump contains the important fan component. This is what draws in the air that is turned to heat your home and hot water.

There are different types of air source heat pumps;

  • single large units called Monobloc pumps
  • two part units, (an outdoor and an indoor unit), called Split pumps - the benefit of Split pumps is some fan units can be placed a distance away from the house to avoid the noise of the air heat pump.

This means if you live in a mid-terrace home, an air source heat pump will be an available option for you as long as there is patio or garden space to fit the unit. Unlike installing a ground source heat pump where there is not enough outdoor space for one to be dug in.

Cost to install an air source heat pump

Which is better, an air or ground source heat pump?

Both heat pumps come with their own set of benefits but the biggest benefit of an air source heat pump is that fitting them is more cost effective than ground source heat pumps, and they need less outdoor space to be installed.

Both heat pumps  are low-maintenance with less CO2 emissions emitted than gas boilers. An air source heat pump is noisier than the ground source heat pump but more than half of the UK homes do not have the outdoor space for trenches or boreholes to be dug. Or for digger machinery to access the garden making them non-viable for a ground source heat pump and leaving the only option of a heat pump to be an air source heat pump installed along an exterior wall, making no difference if it is a front, side or back wall as long as there is air flow around.

How much will it cost to install an air source heat pump?

The cost to install an air source heat pump is significantly less than installing a ground source heat pump. The prices for supplying and installing is more like £8,000 to £15,000 as opposed to a ground source heat pump that can reach £45,000.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS grant) is £5,000 towards the cost of the installation of the air source heat pump and because they are energy efficient, the savings you make begin from the day you start using the new heat pump.

The installation time for the gas engineer, is anywhere from 1-3 days of labour. Labour makes up only 10% of the cost with the bulk of the expense being the materials for the air source heat pump.

A budget unit costing £7500 to install will be £6750 materials and only £750 labour cost for the engineer.

Cost to install an air source heat pump

Per

Average total labour cost

Installing a monobloc pump

Per day

£550

Installing a split pump

Per day

£750

Installing the hot water cylinder

Per day

£300

Replacing a component on the heat pump, e.g.; evaporator, compressor, condenser or an expansion valve

Per hour

£180

Is an air source heat pump better than a gas boiler?

The initial installation cost of a gas boiler is far cheaper, but then there are more on-going maintenance charges and components can be very delicate, needing more parts changed over the years than an air source heat pump as well as the gas boiler needing annual gas checks.

The air source heat pump typically outputs 3x more heat for every unit of energy it uses to capture heat from the air, this makes the heat pump 300% more energy efficient.

They are a low carbon heat source. A well designed and installed air source heat pump can be overall cheaper to run than a gas boiler, which in time will make up for the higher initial installation cost.

What are the advantages of an air source heat pump?

Air source heat pumps do have many advantages including;

  • a very energy efficient system
  • the UK has government grants to help towards the cost of installing an air source heat pump
  • unlike a ground source heat pump, the air source can be installed with minimum disruption to your outdoor space
  • they require low-maintenance
  • their lifespan is a lot longer than gas boilers
  • some units can provide a cooling summer function

Some of the main downsides to an air source heat pump is that they are noisy, need outside space to have the unit fixed to a wall, radiators will be warm but never very hot to touch and the upfront cost is a lot more than a gas boiler.


Estimates for common heating engineer jobs;

Rates for other trades

Install an air source heat pump cost in the UK
Install an air source heat pump cost in the UK (excluding VAT or callout charges)
Location in UKInstall an air source heat pump cost
Install an air source heat pump near Aberdeen£574
Install an air source heat pump near Amber Valley£488
Install an air source heat pump near Angus£546
Install an air source heat pump near Arun£556
Install an air source heat pump near Ashfield£482
Install an air source heat pump near Aylesbury Vale£572
Install an air source heat pump near Barnsley£480
Install an air source heat pump near Basildon£530
Install an air source heat pump near Basingstoke & Deane£566
Install an air source heat pump near Bassetlaw£496
Install an air source heat pump near Bath & North East Somerset£536
Install an air source heat pump near Bedford£578
Install an air source heat pump near Belfast£454
Install an air source heat pump near Birmingham£482
Install an air source heat pump near Blackburn£470
Install an air source heat pump near Blackpool£500
Install an air source heat pump near Bolton£500
Install an air source heat pump near Bournemouth£558
Install an air source heat pump near Bracknell Forest£590
Install an air source heat pump near Bradford£478
Install an air source heat pump near Braintree£526
Install an air source heat pump near Breckland£490
Install an air source heat pump near Bridgend£464
Install an air source heat pump near Brighton£542
Install an air source heat pump near Bristol£524
Install an air source heat pump near Broadland£538
Install an air source heat pump near Broxtowe£480
Install an air source heat pump near Bury£494
Install an air source heat pump near Caerphilly£464
Install an air source heat pump near Calderdale£462
Install an air source heat pump near Cambridge£568
Install an air source heat pump near Canterbury£510
Install an air source heat pump near Cardiff£472
Install an air source heat pump near Carmarthenshire£406
Install an air source heat pump near Charnwood£462
Install an air source heat pump near Chelmsford£524
Install an air source heat pump near Cheltenham£620
Install an air source heat pump near Cherwell£582
Install an air source heat pump near Chester£460
Install an air source heat pump near Colchester£522
Install an air source heat pump near Conway£424
Install an air source heat pump near Coventry£480
Install an air source heat pump near Crewe & Nantwich£484
Install an air source heat pump near Dacorum£574
Install an air source heat pump near Derby£458
Install an air source heat pump near Doncaster£492
Install an air source heat pump near Dover£476
Install an air source heat pump near Dudley£482
Install an air source heat pump near Dumfries & Galloway£512
Install an air source heat pump near Dundee£550
Install an air source heat pump near East Ayrshire£424
Install an air source heat pump near East Devon£496
Install an air source heat pump near East Dunbartonshire£570
Install an air source heat pump near East Hampshire£554
Install an air source heat pump near East Hertfordshire£570
Install an air source heat pump near East Lindsey£452
Install an air source heat pump near East Riding£396
Install an air source heat pump near Eastleigh£566
Install an air source heat pump near Edinburgh£540
Install an air source heat pump near Elmbridge£592
Install an air source heat pump near Epping Forest£594
Install an air source heat pump near Erewash£464
Install an air source heat pump near Exeter£514
Install an air source heat pump near Falkirk£558
Install an air source heat pump near Fife£542
Install an air source heat pump near Flintshire£458
Install an air source heat pump near Gateshead£526
Install an air source heat pump near Gedling£474
Install an air source heat pump near Glasgow£560
Install an air source heat pump near Gloucester£640
Install an air source heat pump near Guildford£596
Install an air source heat pump near Gwynedd£454
Install an air source heat pump near Halton£488
Install an air source heat pump near Harrogate£468
Install an air source heat pump near Havant & Waterloo£536
Install an air source heat pump near Highland£646
Install an air source heat pump near Horsham£550
Install an air source heat pump near Huntingdonshire£564
Install an air source heat pump near Ipswich£632
Install an air source heat pump near Isle of Wight£532
Install an air source heat pump near Kings Lynn & West Norfolk£526
Install an air source heat pump near Kingston-upon-Hull£398
Install an air source heat pump near Kirklees£470
Install an air source heat pump near Knowsley£482
Install an air source heat pump near Lancaster£532
Install an air source heat pump near Leeds£472
Install an air source heat pump near Leicester£464
Install an air source heat pump near Lisburn£450
Install an air source heat pump near Liverpool£480
Install an air source heat pump near London£588
Install an air source heat pump near Luton£582
Install an air source heat pump near Macclesfield£494
Install an air source heat pump near Maidstone£524
Install an air source heat pump near Manchester£490
Install an air source heat pump near Mid Bedfordshire£568
Install an air source heat pump near Mid Sussex£562
Install an air source heat pump near Middlesbrough£506
Install an air source heat pump near Milton Keynes£574
Install an air source heat pump near Neath Port Talbot£480
Install an air source heat pump near New Forest£556
Install an air source heat pump near Newbury£564
Install an air source heat pump near Newcastle-under-Lyme£466
Install an air source heat pump near Newcastle-upon-Tyne£528
Install an air source heat pump near Newport£476
Install an air source heat pump near North Ayrshire£460
Install an air source heat pump near North East Lincolnshire£496
Install an air source heat pump near North Hertfordshire£572
Install an air source heat pump near North Lanarkshire£564
Install an air source heat pump near North Lincolnshire£452
Install an air source heat pump near North Somerset£514
Install an air source heat pump near North Tyneside£522
Install an air source heat pump near North Wiltshire£618
Install an air source heat pump near Northampton£560
Install an air source heat pump near Norwich£528
Install an air source heat pump near Nottingham£466
Install an air source heat pump near Nuneaton & Bedworth£474
Install an air source heat pump near Oldham£494
Install an air source heat pump near Oxford£584
Install an air source heat pump near Pembrokeshire£408
Install an air source heat pump near Perth & Kinross£548
Install an air source heat pump near Peterborough£576
Install an air source heat pump near Plymouth£498
Install an air source heat pump near Poole£556
Install an air source heat pump near Portsmouth£534
Install an air source heat pump near Powys£606
Install an air source heat pump near Preston£490
Install an air source heat pump near Reading£600
Install an air source heat pump near Redcar & Cleveland£496
Install an air source heat pump near Reigate & Banstead£586
Install an air source heat pump near Renfrewshire£552
Install an air source heat pump near Rhondda, Cynon, Taff£456
Install an air source heat pump near Rochdale£496
Install an air source heat pump near Rochester-upon-Medway£566
Install an air source heat pump near Rotherham£482
Install an air source heat pump near Salford£490
Install an air source heat pump near Salisbury£516
Install an air source heat pump near Sandwell£480
Install an air source heat pump near Scarborough£534
Install an air source heat pump near Scottish Borders£766
Install an air source heat pump near Sefton£486
Install an air source heat pump near Sevenoaks£548
Install an air source heat pump near Sheffield£488
Install an air source heat pump near Slough£592
Install an air source heat pump near Solihull£480
Install an air source heat pump near South Ayrshire£464
Install an air source heat pump near South Bedfordshire£578
Install an air source heat pump near South Cambridgeshire£548
Install an air source heat pump near South Gloucestershire£528
Install an air source heat pump near South Kesteven£546
Install an air source heat pump near South Lanarkshire£538
Install an air source heat pump near South Oxfordshire£584
Install an air source heat pump near South Somerset£530
Install an air source heat pump near South Tyneside£524
Install an air source heat pump near Southampton£560
Install an air source heat pump near Southend-on-Sea£512
Install an air source heat pump near St Albans£590
Install an air source heat pump near St Helens£480
Install an air source heat pump near Stafford£490
Install an air source heat pump near Stockport£498
Install an air source heat pump near Stockton-on-Tees£506
Install an air source heat pump near Stoke-on-Trent£466
Install an air source heat pump near Stratford-on-Avon£504
Install an air source heat pump near Stroud£586
Install an air source heat pump near Suffolk Coastal£672
Install an air source heat pump near Sunderland£524
Install an air source heat pump near Swale£504
Install an air source heat pump near Swansea£466
Install an air source heat pump near Tameside£492
Install an air source heat pump near Teignbridge£506
Install an air source heat pump near Tendring£592
Install an air source heat pump near Test Valley£540
Install an air source heat pump near Thamesdown£626
Install an air source heat pump near Thanet£530
Install an air source heat pump near The Wrekin£506
Install an air source heat pump near Thurrock£536
Install an air source heat pump near Torbay£502
Install an air source heat pump near Trafford£500
Install an air source heat pump near Vale of Glamorgan£470
Install an air source heat pump near Vale of White Horse£596
Install an air source heat pump near Vale Royal£454
Install an air source heat pump near Wakefield£482
Install an air source heat pump near Walsall£480
Install an air source heat pump near Warrington£500
Install an air source heat pump near Warwick£490
Install an air source heat pump near Waveney£512
Install an air source heat pump near Waverley£580
Install an air source heat pump near Wealden£544
Install an air source heat pump near West Lancashire£486
Install an air source heat pump near West Lothian£568
Install an air source heat pump near West Wiltshire£618
Install an air source heat pump near Wigan£486
Install an air source heat pump near Windsor & Maidenhead£590
Install an air source heat pump near Wirral£476
Install an air source heat pump near Wokingham£590
Install an air source heat pump near Wolverhampton£484
Install an air source heat pump near Wrexham Maelor£534
Install an air source heat pump near Wychavon£534
Install an air source heat pump near Wycombe£608
Install an air source heat pump near York£462