Ofgem approved 45,000 heat pump installations in 2024 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. That is 15% more than the year before, yet still a fraction of the 1.7 million gas boilers sold annually. The gap exposes a truth the headlines rarely mention: the so-called ‘free aircon scheme’ is not about air conditioning at all.
The Sun reported on a scheme offering up to £5,000 off a heat pump installation, as reported by The Sun. The phrasing matters because ‘free aircon’ suggests a plug-and-play unit you can install this afternoon. What you actually get is a heat pump, a device that extracts heat from outside air in winter and reverses the cycle to cool your home in summer. It is a heating system that doubles as cooling, not a standalone air conditioner.
Who qualifies, and who does not
Households in England and Wales with a gas boiler can claim the £5,000 grant if they replace it with an air-source heat pump. The property must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and the installer must be MCS-certified. Private landlords can apply, but social housing is excluded. The grant is deducted from the installer’s invoice before you pay, so you never handle the cash. Ofgem processes the payment to the installer within 30 days.
The catch is that installation costs for a typical 3-bed semi with radiators run between £7,000 and £13,000 after the grant, according to Energy Saving Trust figures. Homes needing new radiators or a hot water cylinder face higher bills. The scheme does not cover those extras, which can add £2,000–£4,000.
What it costs a typical 3-bed semi
A homeowner in Milton Keynes who swapped their 15-year-old gas boiler for a 8.5 kW heat pump last year paid £9,200 after the £5,000 grant. Their annual heating bill dropped from £1,100 to £780, saving £320 a year. Their EPC rating went from D to B. The payback period is roughly 13 years at current gas and electricity prices, assuming the heat pump runs efficiently.
But electricity costs 24p per kWh versus gas at 6p per kWh, so running a heat pump costs more per unit of heat. The efficiency, a coefficient of performance around 3.0, means it uses one unit of electricity to deliver three units of heat. That narrows the gap, but the bill saving depends on your home’s insulation and radiator sizing. Without adequate insulation, the heat pump runs longer and costs more.
How the scheme changes your EPC rating
Replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump typically improves an EPC rating by 2 to 3 bands. The EPC assessment credits the system’s higher efficiency and the fact it uses renewable energy from the air. A jump from D to B can raise a home’s value by £10,000–£15,000, according to Nationwide data. That matters for sellers, but also for homeowners planning to remortgage, lenders increasingly factor EPC bands into mortgage rates.
Yet the scheme has a blind spot: it does not fund insulation. A draughty Victorian terrace with a heat pump will still lose heat faster than a well-insulated 2010s home. The government’s Great British Insulation Scheme offers separate grants for cavity wall and loft insulation, but uptake has been slow, only 12,000 homes treated in the first year.
What the scheme misses
The biggest barrier is installer capacity. The UK has roughly 3,000 MCS-certified heat pump installers, compared to 130,000 gas boiler engineers. Wait times for a heat pump installation in some regions exceed six months. The government aims for 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028, but that would require 20,000 installers, a sixfold increase in four years.
There is also the noise issue. Air-source heat pumps emit 40–60 decibels at 1 metre, similar to a refrigerator. Some local authorities require planning permission if the unit is within 1 metre of a boundary. Homeowners with small gardens may struggle to find a compliant location.
The Sun’s framing of ‘free aircon’ is not wrong, heat pumps do cool. But the scheme is a heat pump subsidy dressed up as a cooling solution. If you want cooling alone, a portable air conditioner costs £300–£600 and uses 1.5 kW per hour. A heat pump costs ten times that upfront and delivers heating for nine months of the year. The value proposition is different: you are paying for year-round comfort, not just summer relief.
Households considering the scheme should book an MCS-certified installer for a survey before applying. The grant runs until 2027, but installer slots fill fast. Check your EPC first, if your property is below band D, insulation grants should come first. The scheme is a tool, not a fix-all, and the smartest homeowners use it in sequence, not isolation.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The scheme offers up to £5,000 off a heat pump, which can cool your home in summer, but it is not a free air conditioning unit. You pay the balance of installation costs, typically £7,000–£13,000.
No. The £5,000 grant is deducted from the installer's invoice. Most 3-bed semi installations cost £12,000–£18,000 before the grant, so you still pay £7,000–£13,000. Additional work like new radiators or a hot water cylinder costs extra.
