It always helps to learn more…
Here you can find more information about heat pumps: how they work, what they could mean for your home, things that you would need to consider, and what effect it might have on your energy consumption and environmental impact.
Thinking of installing a heat pump?
Explore key considerations for installing a heat pump, including how long the installation process may take, types of heat pumps and the financial support available.
What to expect when living with a heat pump.
Learn about the day-to-day experience of living with a heat pump and discover tips for optimising energy efficiency.
How to get your home ready for a heat pump.
Prepare your home for a heat pump installation with practical advice and insights into optimising your heating system.
7 Facts About the Benefits of Heat Pumps.
Uncover interesting facts about the environmental and economic benefits of heat pumps, from reducing carbon emissions to possibly using less energy.
Life with a heat pump – owner stories
Follow three consumer journeys with a heat pump system, exploring the comfort and convenience it brings to everyday life.
Heat pumps are the future of home heating. They work by gathering small amounts of heat energy from the air or ground and concentrating it to warm up your home. The magic of this process means they work whatever the weather, even in temperatures as low as -25C.
Heat pumps are powered by electricity, which is getting cleaner as we add more renewable energy to the system. The government has said they’re aiming for electricity to be zero carbon by 2050.
Because they gather heat energy from their surroundings, heat pumps are amazingly efficient. They’re three times as efficient as a gas boiler, so for every unit of energy you put in, you get three units of heat out of a heat pump. When combined with proper insulation, that means lower bills too.
A heat pump uses electricity to provide both heating and cooling to a building. These appliances are efficient at transferring heat from one place to another, depending on where it’s needed.
In the winter, a heat pump provides heating by extracting heat from outside a building and moving it inside. In the summer, it can provide cooling by moving heat from indoors to the outside.
It uses the same technology as an air conditioner, which cools your home using a refrigerant. The only major difference between an air-conditioner and a heat pump is that a heat pump has a reversing valve, which allows it to also heat your home.
There’s no doubt a heat pump takes some getting used to, but if you’re ‘keen to be green’ and your home is suitable, there’s no reason why a heat pump wouldn’t fit the bill.
If your home is heat pump ready, we’ll tell you. If it isn’t, we’ll say so and tell you why, and possibly what you would need to do to make a heat pump a successful addition to your home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here lie many of our often asked questions, to save you the trouble of doing so yourself. If there’s still something that we haven’t covered here, do drop us an email at enquiries@toasty.org.uk and we’ll be right back with a response.
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The good news is that heat pumps are generally not that noisy unless they’re doubling as your drum kit. In fact, on average, their sound levels are classed as ‘low moderate’, (40-60 decibels) landing somewhere between the noise of a dishwasher and a quiet library.
If your home is properly insulated, it helps to retain heat and stop energy from escaping. A well-insulated home will increase the efficiency of a heat pump, reducing its running costs and often resulting in lower energy bills too.
Newer, more modern homes tend to be more thermally efficient, so they need less energy to keep them warm. Older homes can be more drafty and less well-insulated, which allows heat to escape through walls, ceilings and floors.
If this sounds like your home, don’t worry, as we’ve got some simple tips on how to save energy and get your home ‘heat pump ready’:
Check if you need loft insulation or cavity wall insulation
Draught-proof windows and doors to stop heat from escaping
Seal up any gaps and cracks around windows, doors and sockets
Install double glazing, if you don’t already have it
As a minimum we would tend to recommend walls and loft are properly insulated before installing a heat pump. However, it may be the case that the costs of externally insulating a solid wall are prohibitive, in which case you’d need a bigger pump – and have to put up with the higher running costs. Our installers will talk the options through with you if you’re keen to progress.
Granted, an external heat pump unit is no looker, but it is reasonably compact and neat, and there are ways to disguise or improve its appearance.
Heat pumps can be disguised with bespoke covers, vinyl wraps, garden screening, or strategically placed furniture and planting.
Absolutely. Households can currently get a grant of £7,500 via the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Toasty will apply for this for you if you decide to go ahead.
You should allow a few days, depending on whether you’re having radiators and pipework replaced.
Toasty heat pumps are fully funded by a Boiler Upgrade Scheme £7,500 grant. So the question is more whether they cost more to run than a gas boiler – the answer is that, due to the introduction of heat pump dedicated tariffs, it is now cheaper to operate a heat pump than it’s ever been before. So, with a Toasty heat pump, you’ll feel the difference in your pocket straight away.
Your heat pump must be installed by an MCS trained, experienced heating engineer, in order to access the grant. This is to make sure it’s fitted to the highest standard, for peace of mind. We wouldn’t use anyone who isn’t MCS accredited.
They are no more expensive to maintain than a standard heating boiler – and as with standard boilers they should be serviced regularly.
An air source heat pump converts outside air into heat, whereas a ground source heat pump absorbs heat from the ground. The latter needs a pipe dug into the ground – either horizontally using coiled pipework in trenches, or vertically using pipework in a borehole, whereas the former needs a heat pump fitted outside the house.
The Government wants to encourage homeowners to install a heat pump. Since April 2022 it has been offering a range of grants for an air source or ground source heat pump, and even better, these grants went up on 23rd October 2023. The current scheme is running until 2028.
You can get one grant per property – and it’s currently worth £7,500. This grant funds the cost of installing a new Toasty heating system and encourages us all to make our homes more environmentally friendly.
