November 2026 edition
UK Home Upgrade Price Index
What a heat pump costs to fit, and what every kind of heating costs to run, from government and official data. Free to quote with a link.
What a unit of heat costs
Pence per kWh of heat delivered, at the October to December 2026 price cap. Lower is cheaper.
See the figures as a table
| Heating | Per kWh of heat | A year, 3 bed semi |
|---|---|---|
| Heat pump on a heat pump tariff | 6.7p | £666 |
| Mains gas boiler | 8.9p | £877 |
| Heat pump on a standard tariff | 9.5p | £937 |
| LPG boiler | 11.2p | £1,106 |
| Oil boiler | 13.3p | £1,316 |
| Direct electric heating | 26.3p | £2,606 |
The yearly cost is energy only, for a 3 bed semi that burns 11,000 kWh of gas a year at EPC band D. Standing charges are left out because most homes keep an electricity one either way. LPG is priced on a typical bulk contract, which is our assumption.
Heat pump prices by size
Median installed cost of air source heat pumps paid under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in 2025/26, at the middle of each size band. Includes the unit, fitting and VAT.
| Size | Installed | After the £7,500 grant | Replacing oil or LPG, after £9,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 kW | £11,494 | £3,994 | £2,494 |
| 7 kW | £12,164 | £4,664 | £3,164 |
| 9 kW | £12,686 | £5,186 | £3,686 |
| 11 kW | £13,943 | £6,443 | £4,943 |
| 13 kW | £15,365 | £7,865 | £6,365 |
| 15 kW | £15,496 | £7,996 | £6,496 |
| 19 kW | £17,878 | £10,378 | £8,878 |
Half of all installs in Q2 2026 cost between £11,128 and £15,627. A 3 bed semi usually needs about 9 kW.
Use these figures
Quote any figure with a link to this page. Every number traces to a public source below.
A median air source heat pump cost £12,908 to install in Q2 2026, or £5,408 after the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant (Retrofit Planner UK Home Upgrade Price Index, November 2026, from DESNZ data).
Sources and method
- Heat pump costs: DESNZ Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics, August 2026 release, Tables A1.3A and Q1.1A.
- Gas and electricity: Ofgem energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026.
- Heat pump tariff: Cosy Octopus, average of the 14 regions, rates from 1 October 2026.
- Oil: BoilerJuice UK average, 25 September 2026, at the DESNZ 2026 conversion factor.
- Heat pump efficiency: Electrification of Heat trial, 428 homes, median 2.78 (Energy Systems Catapult for DESNZ).
- Gas use by home: DESNZ National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework 2026.
Updated when a source updates: the price cap each quarter, the scheme statistics each month. See every figure the site uses.