UK households who have a heat pump slapped with £7,500 warning

There have been around 250,000 installations across the UK, with more and more people opting to go for the heat pump device on the side of their home.

UK households have been issued a warning over heat pumps potentially being "hot air". There have been around 250,000 installations across the UK, with more and more people opting to go for the heat pump device on the side of their home.

In the UK, the majority of homes are expected to opt for an air-source heat pump, which costs on average just over £12,500 to buy and install. The government offers grants of £7,500 to households through its boiler upgrade scheme.

But worryingly, a survey of more than 4,000 adults across the UK, Germany, France and the US last autumn, undertaken by the data company Electrify Research, found that more than 40 per cent of Britons agreed that heat pumps can't cope with lower temperatures, in a worrying finding.

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Richard Halsey, a director at ESC, said: “One of the key findings from our study is that proper design and installation is at the heart of delivering a heat pump that works for the home that it’s in.” Dispelling a myth, experts at the Guardian explained the majority of households CAN get one - despite fears 54 per cent of homes would find them "impractical".

There is also reassurance over blackouts and noise levels, with myths that heat pumps will disrupt neighbours and annoy them assuaged by the Guardian newspaper research, which was published on Saturday, September 28.

Harvie-Clark, a director at Apex Acoustics, a noise-testing consultancy, told the newspaper today: “Modern heat pumps can be significantly quieter, and proper placement – away from property boundaries – can further reduce noise impact."

The studies have also shown households with heat pumps don't need to pay a stack on insulating homes. In the majority of cases, people have to fork out under £1k - with minimum financial impact and disruption to their lives.