New research into heat pumps in Scotland has revealed where homeowners are installing them – and how much it costs in different parts of the country.
The study of official MCS data by home insurer Saga shows how prices to install eco-friendly heat pumps in our homes to replace our boilers are steadily coming down in many areas. The technology works like a refrigerator in reverse by taking heat and energy from outside sources and pumping it back into buildings to warm them.
On average, it costs £13,031 to fit an air source heat pump (ASHP) in Scotland in 2024 – slightly higher than the UK average of £12,985. But Scots can get help bringing down upfront costs with generous grants of £7500 from a Scottish Government scheme – rising to £9000 for households in rural areas.
That perhaps explains why heat pumps are most popular in rural and remote parts. The Western Isles has had the highest number of certified heat pump installations with one in 5 (20 per cent) of households now hosting the technology, followed by Orkney with 15 per cent and Argyll and Bute with 9 per cent.
But according to Saga, Aberdeen languishes behind as the least heat pump-friendly part of Scotland with just 13 installations per 10,000 households since 2019, followed by West Dunbartonshire on 76 and Angus on 98.
The cheapest area in the country to install a heat pump is Glasgow, where the average installation is £10,551 – a drop of a fifth since 2021 when it was nearly £13,000. In second place, despite its low uptake, is Aberdeen, where a typical heat pump can be fitted for £10,815. That’s a 23 per cent fall from 2021 rates when an average installation was £14,005.
Falkirk is third with an average cost of £10,900, a 13 per cent drop in the last three years. Orkney and North Ayrshire come fourth and fifth, with typical costs of £11,013 and £11,219 respectively for a heat pump.
The priciest council area in Scotland for a heat pump is Clackmannanshire, where the average installation costs £17,769 – up a massive 73 per cent from the 2021 rates of £10,252. Why it’s increased so sharply is unclear.
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Second most expensive is East Dunbartonshire, where a typical heat pump will cost you £17,531, a rise of six per cent from £16,563 in 2021.
In Edinburgh, installation costs have risen to an average £15,214, up 22 per cent from £12,512 in the capital three years ago.
In fourth, the average installation for a heat pump in Fife costs £14,882, up from £10,960 (a 36 per cent rise) in 2021, while East Renfrewshire is fifth most expensive on £14,844, a 35 per cent increase on the typical £11,000 bill three years ago.
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