Heat Pump Installation in St Ives, Cambridgeshire

Yes. St Ives is within our core service area, 25 miles from our Isleham base. We install Daikin Altherma 3, Vaillant aroTHERM Plus, Mitsubishi Ecodan, Samsung EHS, and Grant Aerona³ heat pumps for homes and businesses across St Ives and the surrounding area. The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant is applied for by the MCS-certified heat pump installer and taken off your quote.

A heat pump in St Ives typically costs £7,000–£18,000 installed before the £7,500 government grant (Boiler Upgrade Scheme). After the grant, most St Ives homeowners pay £0–£10,500 net — smaller 1-2 bed homes can be fully covered by the grant. The BUS grant budget was doubled to £295 million for 2025/26 and extended through at least 2028, with over 100,000 applications processed by mid-2025. We provide a detailed, no-obligation quote following a free home survey.

Most St Ives properties built since the 1980s are suitable with little or no modification. Older properties may need some radiator upsizing or loft insulation top-up — we assess this at the free survey. Key factors are: wall and loft insulation, radiator sizing, hot water cylinder space, and external unit positioning. Modern heat pumps achieve seasonal COP of 2.8–4.5, with Octopus Energy's Cosy fleet averaging a real-world COP of 3.87. At SCOP 3.6, every £1 of electricity produces £3.60 of heat. EPC requirements for the BUS grant have been relaxed — alternatives to a valid EPC are now accepted.

On standard tariffs, a heat pump at SCOP 3.6 costs roughly £610–£720/year for a typical home — comparable to gas at £650–£750. On smart tariffs like Cosy Octopus (11.7p/kWh off-peak), heat pumps deliver savings of £250–£400/year over gas. Against oil boilers, savings reach 30–50%; against electric storage heaters, 60–70%. Pairing with underfloor heating (which runs at 30–40°C flow temperature) improves COP to 3.5–4.0, delivering 40–50% lower running costs than radiators with heat pumps. Solar panels can cut heat pump electricity costs by a further 40–60%.

In most cases, no. Air source heat pumps are permitted development in England if they comply with MCS 020 a) and the Class G limits, meaning no planning permission is needed. Restrictions apply in conservation areas (no unit on a wall or roof fronting a highway, or nearer a bounding highway than the house) and listed buildings (permitted development does not apply, so planning permission is needed). St Ives has some conservation areas — we advise on this during the survey. Ground source heat pumps are also permitted development.

A standard air source heat pump installation in St Ives takes 2–3 days. This includes fitting the external unit, connecting the internal pipework and controls, and commissioning the system. More complex installations involving cylinder replacement or radiator upgrades take 3–4 days. We typically schedule St Ives surveys within 1–2 weeks and installations within 4–6 weeks of survey.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is a government grant of £7,500 paid directly to the installer, which is deducted from your installation cost. You pay the net amount — you never handle the grant money. To qualify, your property must have an EPC with no outstanding loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations. The MCS-certified heat pump installer applies for the grant on your behalf. The scheme is currently funded to run through 2028.

Many existing radiators work fine with a heat pump, particularly those fitted in the 2000s or later which are often oversized. Heat pumps run at lower flow temperatures (40–55°C) than boilers (60–80°C), so some older or undersized radiators may need upgrading. We carry out a full heat loss calculation and radiator sizing check during the survey. Where radiator upgrades are needed, we include them in the same installation visit to minimise disruption.