Heat pumps
Heat pump running costs, explained without the marketing
A heat pump's running cost is decided by three numbers: your heat demand, the seasonal efficiency you actually achieve, and the unit rate you pay. Everything else is detail.
Our verdict
A well-commissioned air source heat pump on a heat-pump tariff typically runs at similar or slightly lower cost than mains gas. A poorly commissioned one on a standard tariff can cost noticeably more.
Prototype figures — illustrative, not sourced
The costs, savings and paybacks below are placeholders written to demonstrate the format. They are not drawn from market data and have not been independently reviewed. Do not use them to make a purchasing decision.
Typical SCOP achieved
2.8–3.6
Illustrative example only — invented placeholder, not sourced
Annual consumption
2,800–5,500 kWh
Illustrative example only — invented placeholder, not sourced
Cost swing from tariff
£300–£500
Illustrative example only — invented placeholder, not sourced
Efficiency is a system property, not a product property
The seasonal coefficient of performance quoted on a datasheet is measured under laboratory flow temperatures. What you achieve depends on emitter sizing, flow temperature, weather compensation setup and whether the installer left the system running in a sensible control strategy.
The gap between a poor and a good seasonal efficiency on the same house is a large share of your heating bill. That is a bigger lever than almost any purchase decision you will make afterwards.
Where solar and batteries fit
Solar contributes little to heating, because demand peaks in the months when generation is lowest. A battery is more useful: it lets a heat pump draw its energy from cheap overnight hours, provided the property has enough thermal stability to coast through the expensive window.
Common questions
Sources and evidence
- Status: Prototype content. No sourced dataset sits behind the figures on this page yet.
- Planned: field trial data: Published UK heat pump field trial results, cited and dated
- Planned: metered case studies: Consented household consumption data, once any exists
Read the full methodology for how these figures are produced and reviewed.