ASHP Quotes

powerless_chief · 18 September at 1:25PM

Read the thread with interest. I'm in a somewhat similar position to the OP.

We recently had pretty extensive renovations done to the house in which I have gone to extra steps to ensure the house is fit for an ASHP to run at low temps as and when our boiler is ready for replacement. If the price was right sooner though (c.£2-3k after grant) then I'd be willing to do it sooner.

We wouldn't need a new cylinder, already have 28mm copper pipe runs, would be locating the 7kw ASHP very close to where the current boiler is... I feel like my job should be as simple as they come yet I can't get any quotes below £5.5k. This includes from x1 independent who (claims to have) accounted for the lack of extras, but also from x2 corporates which were basically of the view they'd charge the same price irrespective of how many rads/piping/cylinder changes were needed. That's the bit that really confused me, the ones I spoke to seemed to be running a risk-based approach of taking a lower margin on some projects and then making extra on ones like mine.

I'm confident from my research parts alone can be kept beneath £6500 and appreciate trades have their own overheads and need a profit, but another £6500 in labour? I'm not in a rush to do it so not chasing after more quotes but it is disheartening.

MoneyGeoff · 18 September at 2:22PM

powerless_chief said:

Read the thread with interest. I'm in a somewhat similar position to the OP.

We recently had pretty extensive renovations done to the house in which I have gone to extra steps to ensure the house is fit for an ASHP to run at low temps as and when our boiler is ready for replacement. If the price was right sooner though (c.£2-3k after grant) then I'd be willing to do it sooner.

We wouldn't need a new cylinder, already have 28mm copper pipe runs, would be locating the 7kw ASHP very close to where the current boiler is... I feel like my job should be as simple as they come yet I can't get any quotes below £5.5k. This includes from x1 independent who (claims to have) accounted for the lack of extras, but also from x2 corporates which were basically of the view they'd charge the same price irrespective of how many rads/piping/cylinder changes were needed. That's the bit that really confused me, the ones I spoke to seemed to be running a risk-based approach of taking a lower margin on some projects and then making extra on ones like mine.

I'm confident from my research parts alone can be kept beneath £6500 and appreciate trades have their own overheads and need a profit, but another £6500 in labour? I'm not in a rush to do it so not chasing after more quotes but it is disheartening.

Yes that’s the crux of it. The bigger the company, the higher the quote. They quote based on the size of the ASHP rather than the work that needs doing. In my case there is no electrical work, no radiator changes or pipework changes. Just supply and fit of a ASHP and cylinder. The ASHP can be installed on the wall directly behind the cylinder.

I’ve got a quote now from a local mcs company which is £11.5k, so £4k after the BUS grant. Will probably do that if the council route falls through. The council themselves admitted they are aware of the inflated quotes problem. Given that others don’t have this issue at all I guess it’s area specific.

benson1980 · 21 September at 8:58PM

Twerly said:

Hi,
I also have had tried local MCS-listed installers - exactly the same experience (heat pump size for our house us 8.5Kw or 9KW - though it is only £500 extra for larger) - they have been less the 7.5K grant
Octopus 4-5K depending if eco or turbo
Company 1 6K to pay
Company 2 7K to pay

I too strongly suspect the companies are making a massive margin pocketing the majority of the 7.5K grant

reason being....

I have carried out my own analysis and checks

Upto 4 months ago Octoous would supply and fit for 1.5K - my neighbour in a larger house paid this.
If you go online - https://www.theheatpumpwarehouse.co.uk - they sell all makes and models including the full kits including tanks and all kit needed for anytihng from about £5k to say £7K for the most expensive. The Mitubishi Ecodan 8.5kw is £6k including the 175L warter tank

All the companies quoted 2-4 days installation, checked with chatgpt which estimnated heat pump install cost around 2-3K so with the 6K kit cost adds up to it 9K so less the grant would be 1.5K

All the quotes I received do not break down the costs, I did mentioned the purchase price to one company and the salesman became quite defensive.

I also raised a formal complaint to "Greg" at Octopus asking how my neighbour paid 1.5K in June 2025 , received a rubbish explanation that they have just put their prices up

I have one more local company coming out to quote, but so I am concerned that I think there is a bit of a closed shop of profiteering going on and the £7500 is not benefitting the consumer.

I can see why you've come to the figures you have, but matt drummer is right. Your estimated 2-3k for an install is too low. Just the 'sundry' plumbing and electrical parts might come to £500. The company have then also got to fund the heat loss surveys, plus administration. Most companies we had quotes from had at least one or two members of staff who did this, and were not on the tools themselves.

With Octopus the general consensus was that they were installing at a loss with their previous price structure.

I'm not saying that a lot aren't taking the pee, but I'd say that's mostly the ones who are quoting the sort of prices you have had and then doing a crummy job- and there are plenty of those. I've also seen photos of someones 2 day install, and aspects of the job, such as the outer pipe insulation etc, are a total mess.

The_Green_Hornet · 22 September at 9:59AM

Regardless of whether companies are price gouging or not, the cost of an ASHP is too expensive for most home owners.

The wealthy will buy them, and the poor will get them installed for free, but the remainder, when faced with a choice, will simply replace their gas boilers like for like.

The government will need to increase the grant if they want to reach their target number of installations.