Heat pump installer matching: seven checks every consumer should see

What to know first

These points explain what a transparent installer introduction should check before your details are shared.

A matching service can reduce the first round of searching, but it cannot decide whether a heat pump suits your home. A reliable introduction should show why a business passed each check and where that check stops.

The most common UK system is an air-to-water heat pump. It heats water for radiators or underfloor heating and usually works with a hot-water cylinder. An air-to-air system distributes warm air through indoor units and is treated differently under current Boiler Upgrade Scheme rules.

What should “vetted” mean?

“Vetted” is useful only when checks are specific, dated and open to scrutiny. A service should verify the installer’s identity, service area, live MCS status, consumer-protection route, relevant experience and ability to take on work.

It should not imply that every job will go well. The installer remains responsible for the survey, design, quotation, installation and aftercare. The homeowner decides whether to proceed.

The seven checks a transparent match should use

This table is a starting point. The relevant scheme administrator, certification body, planning authority, network operator or installer still decides matters within its remit.

MCS certification is required for Boiler Upgrade Scheme work. The current approved-standards notice also lists the applicable consumer-code routes, including HIES Code of Practice Version Q, Renewable Energy Consumer Code Version 8 and MCS:2025 Version 1. These arrangements should be rechecked because the MCS framework is in transition.

The brief uses “capacity” and “outcome monitoring” without definitions. Here, capacity means workload and resources. Outcome monitoring means reviewing the introduction and customer journey, not collecting data from the home.

Expert insight

“A useful match removes unsuitable providers early and explains why another may be relevant. Screening must not become an implied endorsement.”

Giles Crosse

Energy Editor

Experienced editor, journalist and communications consultant specialising in consumer energy and low carbon technologies.

• Editor and campaign author for Shell, EDF Energy and Good Energy.
• Consultant to the United Nations and contributor to the World Economic Forum.
• Journalist for Reuters, the BBC, The Economist and The Guardian.

More about Giles Crosse

What can only a property survey decide?

A form cannot replace a room-by-room heat-loss calculation. This measures how quickly rooms lose heat in cold weather and helps determine heat-pump output, radiator sizes and water temperature. MCS says room-by-room calculations should consider the building fabric, room dimensions, air-change rates, desired temperatures and the lowest expected outdoor temperature.

MCS explains:

A survey should also consider insulation, pipework, electrical supply, outdoor-unit location, noise, hot-water storage and controls. “Flow temperature” is the temperature of the water moving through the heating system. An installation may require larger radiators, different pipework, a suitable cylinder or electrical work.

It may also identify planning, leasehold or listed-building issues. Many installations may be permitted development, but exceptions apply and local planning advice may be needed.

The installer should establish whether the distribution network operator—the local electricity network company—needs notification after installation or approval beforehand. Government guidance distinguishes between “connect and notify” and “apply to connect” cases.

How should installer matching work?

1. Explain the service first. State what is collected, why it is needed, who may receive it and whether Clearwise may receive a commission.

2. Ask useful initial questions. Postcode, property type, ownership, current heating, hot water, outdoor space and timeframe can support triage.

3. Check the provider when making the introduction. Confirm its legal name, live MCS status, technology, service area and consumer-protection route. Record the date.

4. Test experience and availability. Ask about comparable properties and realistic timescales for the survey, installation and aftercare.

5. Show the limits. No introduction confirms suitability, price, grant eligibility, planning permission, network approval or workmanship.

6. Obtain consent before sharing details. Say whether one or several providers may contact the consumer.

7. Review outcomes. Track contact, clarity and unresolved service problems that may affect future introductions.

Clearwise says it is a publisher and introducer, its commercial partners do not control editorial content, introductions require consent and it may receive a commission at no cost to the consumer. Those points should appear beside any future matching form rather than being left only in general site information.

The service should also state how often it rechecks certification and complaints information. An older check may not reflect the position when a contract is signed.

What should you check after an introduction?

Treat an introduction as the start of comparison. Check the installer’s MCS entry yourself and make sure its legal name matches the quotation. Ask which approved consumer-protection code applies and how complaints, deposits and guarantees work. GOV.UK provides access to the official MCS installer search and recommends obtaining more than one quotation.

Energy Saving Trust says:

A quotation should follow a survey and cover the design, water temperatures, radiator or pipework changes, hot-water cylinder, controls, electrical work, outdoor-unit position and exclusions. Ask for the assumptions behind any performance or running-cost estimate. The Renewable Energy Consumer Code requires its members to provide a detailed written quotation, identify exclusions and explain that estimates are not definite figures.

Ask who handles planning, building regulations and network paperwork. A heat pump must be notified to the local network operator. Depending on the connection, the installer may notify after installation or may need approval before work starts.

What might the installation cost, and what support applies?

Energy Saving Trust gives around £12,000 as a typical air source heat-pump installation cost. The figure varies with the system, property and radiator work. A quotation may also include or exclude pipework, a cylinder, electrical upgrades, insulation and making good, so an indicative national figure is not a fixed market price.

In England and Wales, the installer-led Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides:

• £7,500 for an air-to-water heat pump;

• £2,500 for a residential air-to-air heat pump;

• £9,000 for an eligible off-gas-grid property using an air-to-water or ground-source heat pump, from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027.

The installer applies and should show the grant as an upfront discount on the quotation. An introduction does not establish eligibility or secure a voucher.

Good to know

Qualifying heat-pump installations are zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027. HMRC says the rate is due to return to 5% from 1 April 2027.

Scotland has separate support. The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan currently offers a clean-heating grant of up to £7,500, an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500 and a £1,500 uplift for qualifying rural and island homes. Funding is subject to eligibility, availability and a formal offer.

Northern Ireland households can obtain free, impartial information about grants, renewable energy and other support from NI Energy Advice. The arrangements are different from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and should be checked directly.

Running costs depend on the home, system design, controls, electricity tariff and heating system being replaced. A seller should explain the assumptions behind an estimate rather than promise lower bills.

Contracts, consent and warning signs

Ofgem’s consent to a Boiler Upgrade Scheme application is separate from the private contract with the installer. Confirming consent does not commit a property owner to that business. Read the cancellation terms, payments, warranty and complaints process before authorising work.

Good to know

A 14-day cooling-off period will often apply when work is arranged online, by phone, by post or away from the trader’s premises. Exceptions and charges can apply, especially if work starts at the consumer’s request.

Pressure to sign immediately, an unexplained deposit, unclear exclusions, refusal to provide design information or guaranteed-savings claims are warning signs. GOV.UK states that installers should not put consumers under pressure or offer a cheaper price for signing on the day.

Where the Renewable Energy Consumer Code applies, its rules cover written contracts, payment stages, cancellation, deposits, guarantees, complaints and responsibility for subcontracted work. Keep copies of surveys, calculations, quotations, contracts and messages.

Is Clearwise matching available now?

Not as an immediate matching service. On 20 August 2026, Clearwise asked consumers to leave their details so they could be contacted when advice becomes available. A call to action must therefore describe registration of interest, not promise a match now.

Clearwise says introductions are optional, commercial partners do not influence its editorial content and it may receive a commission at no cost to the consumer. A future heat-pump service should repeat those disclosures beside the form and publish its screening and rechecking method.

Key takeaways

• A vetted installer has passed stated checks; screening is not a guarantee.

• Verify MCS status, consumer protection, service area, experience and availability.

• Only a detailed property survey can decide the system design and likely extra work.

• Compare itemised quotations and question performance or savings assumptions.

• Grant rules, VAT and support differ by place and can change.

• Clearwise’s form was for registering interest on 20 August 2026.

Frequently asked questions