Hailed as a greener, cheaper and more energy-efficient way of heating our homes, heat pumps are proving to be something of a conversation starter of late, thanks in part to the government’s boiler upgrade scheme recently increasing its level of support to homeowners. Now offering £7,500 for each household towards the cost of a new heat pump (up from £5,000 previously), it means it can now be technically cheaper to install a heat pump than the average gas boiler.
For the uninitiated, the most common types of heat pump (which technically both heat and cool the home using electricity rather than gas) are ground source and air source pumps. Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) absorb heat from the air, generally proving easier and quicker to install, whereas ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), absorb heat from the ground. The added cost with GSHPs are largely down to the more technical and complex installation method.
