MCS Accredited · NIC601962
Air Source Heat Pump Installation in Southampton & Hampshire
Affordable sustainable heating. Our team specialises in renewable heating solutions, ensuring you benefit from MCS accredited services and tailoring the best installation for you. With access to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme you can take advantage of the £7,500 grant — or £2,500 for air-to-air systems — with the added bonus of 0% VAT on your installation.
Verifiable, not decorative
Our heat pump credentials — with the numbers
Anyone can put a logo in a footer. These are the registrations that actually decide whether your installation is legal, grant-eligible and warrantable. Check any of them before you commit.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
£7,500 off your air source heat pump — handled by us, not by you
The grant is paid to the installer and deducted from your quotation, so the price you see already has it taken off. Only an MCS accredited installer can make the application. Ours is NIC601962. Air-to-air systems attract £2,500, which is often the right answer for a property with no gas supply.
Plain English
What an air source heat pump actually does
It is a refrigeration cycle running backwards. A fan draws outside air across a coil containing refrigerant, the refrigerant absorbs that low-grade heat and evaporates, a compressor raises its pressure and therefore its temperature, and a heat exchanger passes that heat into your heating and hot water circuits.
Because it moves heat rather than creating it, one unit of electricity delivers roughly three of heat. That ratio is the whole point — and it rises the lower you can run the system's flow temperature. Which is why the design work matters more than the badge on the box.
- Works down to well below freezing — output falls, it does not stop
- Provides heating and hot water from one unit, with a cylinder for stored hot water
- No combustion, no flue, no gas safety certificate required
- Runs on electricity, so it pairs directly with solar PV and battery storage
- A yearly service is required to maintain efficiency and the manufacturer warranty
Two Samsung R290 12 kW units in cascade — our Winchester guest house installation. See the full project.
Before you spend anything
Is your Hampshire home suitable?
We would rather tell you no than sell you a system that disappoints. Here is the honest picture across the property types we see most across the SO postcodes.
Usually a strong fit
- Bungalows — space for the unit, simple single-storey layout
- Post-war and modern semis and detached with loft and cavity insulation
- Anything currently on oil, LPG or old electric heating
- Properties already fitted with underfloor heating
- New build and extension projects
Works, with preparation
- Victorian and Edwardian terraces — emitter sizing is the deciding factor
- Solid-wall property — fabric measures first, then the heat pump
- Homes with small microbore pipework — may need partial re-pipe
- Flats with restricted external space — siting survey required
We will tell you if it does not stack up
If the heat loss survey says your property needs a flow temperature that would make running costs worse than your current system, we will say so — and quote you a hybrid or a high-efficiency boiler instead. We install all of them, so we have no reason to push one.
Compare with a gas boilerHow we work
Six steps from enquiry to handover
No stage of this is subcontracted. The same team surveys, designs, installs, wires and commissions.
Free survey and heat loss calculation
Room by room, not a rule of thumb. This sets the unit size, the flow temperature and which radiators need changing.
System design and written quotation
Itemised: unit, cylinder, emitters, pipework, electrical work, controls, scaffolding if needed, and the grant shown as a deduction.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme application
We submit it under MCS registration NIC601962. You do not chase paperwork.
Installation
Heating, refrigerant and electrical work carried out by our own F-Gas qualified and NICEIC approved engineers.
Commissioning and certification
Flow rates balanced, weather compensation set, electrical certificate issued, MCS certificate registered.
Handover, then the first winter
We show you the controls properly. Heat pumps usually want fine-tuning after the first cold spell — being local means we can come back and do it.
Like for like
Heat pump, gas boiler, oil boiler — how they compare
We install all three, so this table is not a sales pitch for one of them. Efficiency figures are typical industry values; your own numbers come from the survey.
| Air source heat pump | Gas boiler | Oil boiler | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical efficiency | 300–400% (SCOP 3.0–4.0) | Up to 94% (condensing) | Up to 93% (condensing) |
| Design flow temperature | 35–50°C | 60–70°C | 60–70°C |
| Government grant | £7,500 (BUS) | None | None |
| VAT on installation | 0% | Standard rate | Standard rate |
| Carbon at point of use | None | Natural gas combustion | Heating oil combustion |
| Works with underfloor heating | Ideal pairing | Yes, via blending manifold | Yes, via blending manifold |
| Pairs with solar PV | Directly | No | No |
| Annual service (BBI price) | from £195 + VAT | £70–£95 + VAT | £70–£95 + VAT |
| Best suited to | Insulated property, off-gas homes, new build | Mains gas property, high hot water demand | Off-grid rural property |
Not tied to one manufacturer
The heat pumps we are approved to install
Approval matters because warranty work generally has to be carried out by an approved installer. We hold approvals across four manufacturers, which means we can specify the unit that suits your property rather than the one we are contracted to shift.
Vaillant aroTHERM
Vaillant Platinum Installer. Quiet running and strong on-site support — our most frequently specified unit for domestic retrofit.
Samsung EHS / R290
Samsung Approved Installer. R290 propane refrigerant achieves higher flow temperatures, useful in property with existing radiators.
Midea
Midea Approved Installer. Also our air-to-air route, where the £2,500 grant applies.
LG & Grant
LG Approved Installer and Grant G1 Installer — the latter particularly relevant for oil-to-heat-pump conversions and hybrids.
Afterwards
Who services it in year two?
A company that installs but does not service is handing you a problem in twelve months. Our F-Gas qualified engineers service air source and ground source heat pumps from all manufacturers — including systems we did not install.
Annual servicing is normally a manufacturer warranty condition, and it protects the efficiency you paid for: a slightly low refrigerant charge or a badly set compensation curve costs real money across a heating season.
Heat pump service & repairPublished aftercare prices
We publish our service prices. Ask any other installer for theirs in writing before you sign.
Warranties up to 7 years on parts and labour, depending on the unit specified.
Our workmanship guarantee
Renewable energy systems we install with an MCS certificate carry a 6 year workmanship guarantee from the date of commissioning — three times the 24 months we give on a boiler installation, and it is written into our published terms and conditions, not just said on a sales visit.
Questions
Air source heat pump FAQs
How much is an air source heat pump after the grant?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme currently pays £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, and the grant is deducted from your quotation rather than claimed back by you. Qualifying installations also carry 0% VAT. The remaining cost depends on the unit size, the cylinder, and how many radiators need upsizing — all of which come out of the heat loss survey, which is free.
Do I need to replace all my radiators?
Usually not all of them. The heat loss calculation tells us which existing radiators are already large enough at the design flow temperature and which are not. We list the changes in the quotation before you commit, rather than discovering them during installation week.
Will a heat pump keep my house warm in winter?
Yes, provided it is sized from a proper heat loss calculation. Output falls as the outside temperature drops, which is exactly why the design day calculation exists — the system is sized for the coldest conditions, not for average ones.
Are heat pumps noisy?
A modern outdoor unit is comparable to a fridge from a few metres away. Siting matters more than the model: we check boundary distances, reflective surfaces and bedroom windows during the survey.
Do I need planning permission?
Most domestic air source heat pump installations fall under permitted development, subject to conditions on siting, size and noise. Listed buildings and conservation areas are the common exceptions. We flag it at survey if it applies to you.
What is your MCS number?
NIC601962. It is publicly checkable on the MCS certified register, and it is what allows us to make your Boiler Upgrade Scheme application.
Can I run a heat pump from solar panels?
Partly, and it is worth doing. Solar output is lowest in winter when heating demand is highest, so treat solar as a running-cost reducer across spring, summer and autumn rather than a way to heat the house for free. We install solar PV and battery storage as well, so the two can be designed together.
Do you do the electrical work as well?
Yes. We are an NICEIC Approved Contractor, so the electrical installation and certification are done in-house rather than subcontracted. On a heat pump job that removes an entire scheduling dependency.
What warranty do I get?
Warranties of up to 7 years on parts and labour depending on the unit specified, plus the manufacturer approvals we hold with Vaillant, Samsung, Midea, LG and Grant. Annual servicing is normally a warranty condition.
Do you cover my area?
We are based in Southampton and Eastleigh and cover all SO postcodes, including Southampton, Totton, Hythe, Lyndhurst, West Wellow, Romsey, Stockbridge, Kings Worthy, Winchester, Fair Oak, Bishops Waltham, Hedge End, Whiteley, Fareham.
Book a free heat pump survey
A proper heat loss survey, an itemised written quotation, and the grant shown as a deduction. No obligation.