Key takeaways
- A one-room air-to-air system typically costs £1,900 to £2,185 installed; three rooms about £3,700 to £4,255.
- When it replaces fossil-fuel or electric heating and is fitted by an MCS-certified installer, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme can take £2,500 off. It then has to heat the whole home, so it is a whole-home install, not one room.
- Cooling two rooms costs about 10.8p an hour at the Ofgem cap for October to December 2026.
- Pipe runs, wall and electrical work, access and the number of indoor units move a quote more than the brand.
Air-to-air heat pumps are the cheapest kind of heat pump to install, because they skip the hot-water cylinder, the radiators and the plumbing that an air-to-water system needs. Heat goes straight into the room through a wall unit, and the same unit cools in summer. That makes the price closer to air conditioning than to a conventional heat pump.
Typical installed prices
| Rooms served | Typical installed cost |
|---|---|
| 1 room | £1,900 to £2,185 |
| 2 rooms | £2,800 to £3,220 |
| 3 rooms | £3,700 to £4,255 |
| 4 rooms | £4,600 to £5,290 |
| 5 rooms | £5,500 to £6,325 |
For comparison, a cooling-only multi-split air conditioning system for several rooms typically costs £3,500 to £7,000, with no grant available because it does not replace your heating.
The grant, and the condition attached
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump in England and Wales, but only when it replaces fossil-fuel or electric heating and an MCS-certified installer fits it. If you keep your boiler and add the unit for cooling, it is a cooling-only install and the grant does not apply. No voucher can be issued yet either: no installer can be MCS-certified for air-to-air until the certification bodies gain UKAS accreditation, and MCS has not set a date.
Replacing your heating also changes the size of the job. To qualify, the heat pump has to meet all of your home's space heating, so it has to reach every room you heat, not just the ones you want cooled. A typical three-bedroom semi needs about 5 rooms covered: £5,500 to £6,325 installed, or about £3,000 to £3,825 after the grant. A single unit for one hot bedroom is a cooling job, and the grant does not apply to it.
Free toolGrant eligibility checkerAn honest yes or no on the air-to-air grantWhat changes a quote
- How many indoor units, and whether they share one outdoor unit (multi-split) or each have their own.
- The length of the pipe runs between the indoor and outdoor units, and how they are routed and covered.
- Where the outdoor unit goes: ground level is simplest, brackets high on a wall or a roof cost more.
- Electrical work: a dedicated circuit, and whether the consumer unit needs upgrading.
- Access: scaffolding for upper floors adds to the bill.
- Planning and consent: an application, a noise assessment or a freeholder’s licence add time and fees.
Air-to-air or air-to-water?
An air-to-water heat pump heats radiators or underfloor heating and hot water, and usually needs a hot-water cylinder, bigger radiators and more plumbing, so it costs considerably more to fit. It does not cool. An air-to-air heat pump heats and cools rooms directly and leaves hot water to be handled separately. If summer comfort matters to you as much as winter heating, air-to-air is the one that does both.
Running costs
Air-to-air units are efficient in both directions. For cooling, a typical summer of use across two rooms comes to about £39 at the current price cap. For heating, the running cost depends on how much of your home it heats and what fuel it replaces, which is why the checker asks what you heat with today.
Worked example · one Victorian terrace in Manchester
Assumes south-facing, EPC band D, victorian or older (pre-1919), 3 rooms to cool.
Recommended system
Air-to-air heat pump
Cools in summer and heats in winter - the only cooling system the £2,500 grant can fund.
Replacing your mains-gas heating with an air-to-air heat pump cools in summer and heats in winter, and qualifies for the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant when installed by an MCS-certified installer.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
£2,500 grant - eligible
Eligible: replacing your mains-gas heating with an air-to-air heat pump via an MCS-certified installer qualifies for the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.
Not claimable yet
The grant itself is law and your eligibility is real, but no installer can be MCS-certified for air-to-air yet, so no Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher can be issued today. Certified air-to-air products are already listed; installers can certify once the certification bodies gain UKAS accreditation, and MCS has not set a date for that. Get quotes now, but treat the grant as pending rather than banked.
- Installed by an MCS-certified installer
- Residential property only
- Existing qualifying heating system is decommissioned, not retained alongside the new system
- Not combined with another government heating grant for the same install
- The installer must be MCS-certified for air-to-air before a voucher can be issued - no installer can be yet
Indicative cost
- Typical install
- £4,600-£5,290
- Less grant
- −£2,500
- You pay
- £2,100-£2,790
- Indicative UK install cost, sourced from 2026 trade guides - actual quotes vary by property and installer.
- Sized to heat 4 rooms, not just the 3 you want cooled: to qualify for the grant the heat pump has to meet all of your home's space heating.
- Net cost shown after the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.
If this home keeps its boiler
Multi-split air conditioning, no grant
Cooling added alongside a boiler you keep does not qualify for the grant. It is fitted by an F-Gas / REFCOM engineer, typically £3,500 to £7,000 installed.
Confirm with your local planning authority
- Whether this property is a listed building materially changes the answer - this was not confirmed.
- External condenser units must meet permitted-development noise limits regardless of planning route.
- This is an indicative assessment only - always confirm the final position with your Local Planning Authority (LPA) before installing.
Illustrative only. Your own floor, aspect, heating and conservation status change the result. Grant rules as of August 2026, and subject to change. Check your own address
Frequently asked questions
How much does an air-to-air heat pump cost?
Typically £1,900 to £2,185 for one room and £3,700 to £4,255 for three, installed. The £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant applies only when it replaces fossil-fuel or electric heating, via an MCS-certified installer, and then it has to heat the whole home.
Is an air-to-air heat pump cheaper than air conditioning?
To install, prices are similar room for room. The difference is that an air-to-air heat pump can replace your heating and qualify for the grant, while cooling-only air conditioning cannot.
Do air-to-air heat pumps heat water?
No. They heat and cool air only, so you keep or replace your hot-water arrangements separately, for example with an electric or heat pump cylinder.
Sources
Solomon Amos, Founder & Technical Architect, GetComfort
Solomon Amos is the founder and technical architect of GetComfort, and built HomePortfolio, the property-intelligence platform behind this site's property data. He is not an installer: every accreditation and planning claim here is sourced to its primary guidance, as the methodology sets out. More about the author
