Is my heat pump quote fair? A UK price-sense check

The hardest thing about a heat pump quote is that the same headline number can mean two completely different jobs. A £5,000 quote can be a properly specced £12,500 air-source install with the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant already deducted. Or it can be a £5,000 install with no grant at all, which usually means the installer is not MCS-certified and the system is under-specced. The two can land in your inbox on the same day and neither is wrong. They are pricing different jobs.

This guide is a checklist to read a heat pump quote line by line. For the price bands by type and size, start with the heat pump cost guide. For the general method, see how to compare builder quotes.

Typical price, so you have a benchmark#

In 2026, an air-source heat pump for a typical 3-bed UK home costs £8,000 to £14,000 gross installed, with an average around £12,500 (HomeOwners Alliance). After the £7,500 BUS grant, the net is roughly £500 to £6,500. Larger 4-bed or poorly insulated systems run £12,000 to £18,000 gross. Ground-source is in a different bracket at £20,000 to £35,000+ because of the boreholes or trenches.

If your quote sits well outside these bands, that is your first thing to ask about. The answer is often "yours is premium hardware" or "yours includes radiator upgrades", which is a useful answer.

The gross-grant-net trap#

This is the single biggest source of confusion in heat pump quotes. A fair quote shows three numbers, not one:

• Gross: the install price before any grant.
• BUS grant: £7,500 deducted, on a separate line.
• Net: what you actually pay.

A "£5,000 heat pump" can be a fair £12,500 install with the grant applied or an under-specced £5,000 install with no grant at all. If the quote shows only a net figure with no gross, ask for the gross before you compare it against another quote.

The grant is statutory in England and Wales, administered by Ofgem under GOV.UK. The MCS-certified installer applies it directly to the quoted price. You should not be paying the gross and reclaiming the grant.

What a fair heat pump quote should itemise#

A reasonable heat pump quote breaks the price into at least these lines, with a number against each:

• Outdoor unit: make, model, kW rating, refrigerant type.
• Hot water cylinder: capacity in litres, make, heat-pump-ready coil.
• Heat-loss calculation: a room-by-room survey before sizing the unit.
• Radiator upgrades: which rooms, which radiators, priced individually rather than as an "allowance".
• MCS certification: the installer's MCS number on the quote.
• BUS grant deduction: £7,500 as a separate line above the net.
• Electrical supply check: whether the existing supply can carry the load. Upgrade is £500 to £1,500 if needed.
• Commissioning and handover: balancing, controls setup, homeowner walk-through.
• VAT at 0%: heat pump installations are zero-rated under the energy-saving materials relief until 31 March 2027.

A single lump sum that says "heat pump system fitted, £12,000" tells you none of these. See how to read a builder's quote for the general format you should expect.

What is typically excluded#

Items that often quietly fall outside the headline price:

• Insulation upgrades to bring the EPC up to BUS-eligible standard (loft top-up, cavity wall) if recommendations are outstanding.
• Old boiler removal and Gas Safe notification for capping the gas.
• Decoration and making-good after pipework runs and cylinder install.
• Buffer tank if the system design needs one (£400 to £800).
• Noise screening around the outdoor unit in noise-sensitive locations, especially close to a boundary.
• Underfloor heating retrofit if specified instead of larger radiators.

For the broader pattern across trades, see hidden costs in builder quotes.

Red flags specific to heat pumps#

• A single net figure with no gross. You cannot compare it to another quote, and you cannot tell if margin is hidden in the grant deduction.
• No MCS number on the quote. Disqualifies you from the £7,500 BUS grant. The installer should be listed on the MCS directory.
• No heat-loss calculation, or radiators "will be fine" with no survey. The single most common cause of an underperforming heat pump in the UK.
• 20% VAT charged. Should be zero until 31 March 2027.
• "We sort the grant after install." Not how BUS works. The grant comes off the quoted price up front.
• A 1-day install. A proper air-source retrofit is 2 to 5 days.
• Unit kW matches the old boiler kW exactly. Boilers are routinely oversized; matching that with a heat pump means short-cycling and higher running costs.
• Combi-style hot water promised with no cylinder line. Heat pumps need an indirect cylinder.

For the general red-flag pattern, see am I being overcharged.

Before you sign#

1. Are the gross install price, the £7,500 grant, and the net all on the page?
2. Is the MCS number listed, and can you verify it on the MCS directory?
3. Is the heat-loss calculation referenced, with the property's total kW heat loss stated?
4. Is the radiator upgrade list itemised, not bundled into an allowance?
5. Is the cylinder size and make named?
6. Is the electrical supply check addressed, with an upgrade priced if needed?
7. Is VAT shown at 0%?
8. Is the total in the typical band for your system size?

If three or more of these are unclear, the quote is not ready to be compared against another. Get the missing items in writing before you decide.

The shortcut#

Running this comparison by hand means knowing per-kW rates, cylinder sizing, the BUS grant rules, and the MCS directory. Check the Quote does that part for you: paste or upload your heat pump quote and we check every line against current UK rates for your postcode, verify the MCS listing, confirm the BUS line is applied correctly, and tell you what is missing. Your first check is free.