Heat pumps for businesses, FAQs

It depends on technology and scale. A commercial air-source system typically runs £60,000-£600,000; ground-source £150,000-£2m+ because of the ground works; hybrid boiler-replacement retrofits £70,000-£500,000; industrial/process and heat-network schemes can reach several million. Cost is driven by the building's peak heat load, the emitter upgrades required, and any electrical supply upgrade. We model the full installed cost from your heat-loss survey before you commit.

No. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is domestic-only and does not cover commercial or non-domestic buildings. Commercial buyers have different, often larger, routes: the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (public bodies), the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (eligible industrial sites), the Green Heat Network Fund (multi-building schemes), and full-expensing / Annual Investment Allowance capital tax relief for any business. We map which of these you qualify for.

Air-source (ASHP) extracts heat from outside air, lower capital, faster install, no ground works, SCOP typically 3.0-4.0, but efficiency dips in very cold weather. Ground-source (GSHP) draws from stable ground temperature via boreholes or loops, higher capital and longer lead time, but SCOP often 4.0+ all year and the option of low-cost summer cooling. Ground-source earns its premium on year-round buildings; air-source wins on speed, cost, and low disruption. We model both from your data.

SCOP (Seasonal Coefficient of Performance) is the average heat output divided by electricity input across a whole heating season, measured to BS EN 14825. An SCOP of 3.5 means 3.5 units of heat per unit of electricity. It's the single most important efficiency figure because it determines running cost. The biggest driver of a good SCOP is a low flow temperature, which is why we design for 45-55C wherever the emitters allow.

Not when it's designed well. Electricity costs more per unit than gas, but a heat pump's SCOP of 3.0-4.0 offsets most of that gap. We model running cost from your actual consumption at current and forecast prices. With low flow temperatures and a sensible electricity tariff, well-designed commercial systems are at or below gas running cost today, and the gap improves as gas carbon levies rise and the grid decarbonises.

Often not. We survey your existing emitters first. Many commercial systems run a heat pump at 50-55C with selective emitter upgrades rather than a full strip-out. Where high flow temperatures are genuinely needed, a high-temperature heat pump (70C+) or a hybrid design with a peaking boiler avoids the cost of re-emittering the whole building while still cutting carbon 70-90%.

A hybrid (bivalent) system pairs a heat pump with a peaking boiler. The heat pump covers 70-90% of annual heat demand, the vast majority of operating hours, and the boiler tops up only on the coldest days. It needs a smaller, cheaper heat pump, suits buildings with high-temperature emitters, and de-risks the worst-case cold spell. For many commercial retrofits it's the most cost-effective decarbonisation route.

A heat pump removes on-site combustion entirely; its emissions come only from grid electricity, which is steadily decarbonising. Typical commercial installs save 15-180 tonnes of CO2 a year for air-source, more for large ground-source and industrial systems. Because the UK grid carbon factor keeps falling, the carbon saving improves every year the system runs, useful evidence for net-zero and Scope 1/2 reporting.

Sizing is driven by your building's peak heat-loss and annual heat demand, not floor area. We carry out a heat-loss survey and review at least 12 months of gas or oil consumption. Typical commercial air-source systems land between 40 and 500 kW thermal; ground-source 50 kW-1 MW+; industrial/process and heat-network schemes larger again. We specify to BS EN 14825 so quoted performance is comparable across suppliers.

An air-source retrofit is typically 4-12 weeks on site once design and any DNO supply work are agreed; the live boiler cutover is usually a matter of hours. Ground-source takes longer because of drilling and ground works, often several months including ground investigation. Industrial and heat-network schemes run to 12 months or more including design, planning, and grid works. The DNO supply upgrade, where needed, is often the longest-lead item.

Many commercial air-source installs fall under permitted development, but they're subject to size, siting, and noise limits, a BS 4142 acoustic assessment is commonly required to show the external unit won't disturb neighbours. Listed buildings and conservation areas need consent. Ground-source borehole arrays may need planning depending on scale, and open-loop systems that abstract or discharge groundwater require an Environment Agency permit. We confirm planning status during the feasibility stage.

Public bodies: the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme via Salix. Eligible industrial sites: the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (fuel-switching to industrial heat pumps and waste-heat recovery). Multi-building / campus schemes: the Green Heat Network Fund, up to 50% of eligible costs. Any business: full expensing (companies, 100% first-year deduction, no cap, permanent from April 2026) or the Annual Investment Allowance, heat pumps qualify as plant and machinery. The domestic Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not apply.

Yes, particularly ground-source, which can deliver low-cost passive or active cooling in summer by reversing the flow, and air-to-air systems which heat and cool by design. This is valuable for offices, care homes, hotels, and spaces with IT or process heat. Reversible systems mean one plant set covers both seasonal duties, improving the whole-life business case.

Modern units use lower-GWP refrigerants such as R32 (A2L, lower flammability) and increasingly natural refrigerants like R290 (propane), CO2, and ammonia for high-temperature duties, driven by the F-Gas phase-down of high-GWP gases. Natural-refrigerant and flammable-refrigerant plant carries DSEAR/ATEX siting requirements, which we design for. All refrigerant work is carried out by F-Gas certified engineers.

Possibly not without checking. Large heat pumps add meaningful electrical load, so we confirm your available supply capacity early. Where a DNO supply upgrade is needed, it can be the longest-lead item in the project, so we start that conversation at feasibility. On constrained sites we look at phasing, hybrid designs, or demand management to keep within capacity.

It depends on the design. In a heat-pump-only project the boiler is decommissioned and removed once the new plant is commissioned and proven. In a hybrid design the boiler is retained as the peaking and backup source. We can also keep the old boiler live during commissioning so you're never without heat through the changeover.

Annual (or six-monthly) servicing covers the refrigerant circuit, electrical checks, controls, and a performance review against design. Remote monitoring flags underperformance so issues are caught early. With routine maintenance, commercial heat pumps have a service life of around 20 years (15-20 for air-source, often longer for the ground array of a ground-source system, where the borehole field can last decades).

Yes. Air-source units operate well below freezing, efficiency dips as it gets colder, which is why we size and, where appropriate, pair them with a peaking source for the rare extreme days. Ground-source is largely unaffected by air temperature because the ground stays at a stable temperature year-round, so its performance holds up even in the coldest snaps.