Low-carbon heating done properly: full design, MCS-certified install via our Q-Smart partnership, and honest advice about whether a heat pump is genuinely the right move for your home in Greater Manchester.
Q-Smart partnership · Up to £7,500 BUS grant · No hard sell
An air source heat pump (ASHP) is a low-carbon replacement for a gas or oil boiler. It extracts heat from outside air, upgrades it with electricity, and delivers it to your radiators or underfloor system and hot water cylinder. When designed and installed correctly, it heats a well-insulated home for a fraction of the CO₂ of a gas boiler.
Homeowners planning to stay put for 8+ years, off-grid properties currently on oil or LPG, self-builders, and anyone extending or renovating who's already opening up floors and can spec the emitters and cylinder correctly from day one.
When your existing boiler is nearing end of life, when energy bills and carbon are decisions you want to make once, and while government funding (Boiler Upgrade Scheme, up to £7,500) is available for eligible households.
Heat pumps are not gas boilers. They run cooler, longer and steadier — which means system design (radiator sizing, flow temperatures, cylinder sizing, controls strategy) is the make-or-break. Cheap, badly designed installs give heat pumps a bad reputation. Proper design gives you a system that quietly works.
The horror stories about heat pumps almost all trace back to the same cause: a like-for-like swap without redesigning the emitters, controls and cylinder. If it's a bad idea for your property, we'll tell you. If it's a good idea, we'll do the sums properly.
Heat pumps deliver heat at lower flow temperatures. Radiators sized for a 70°C boiler flow won't put out enough heat at 45–50°C. The house feels cold, the pump runs constantly, and bills climb.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has finite budget and evolving rules. Delaying a decision often means less grant, or more admin, than acting inside a current, funded window.
Poorly designed systems give heat pumps a reputation they don't deserve — cold rooms, noisy fans, huge bills. Design is the difference.
Undersized or old vented cylinders don't work with heat pumps. You need a correctly sized, low-loss unvented cylinder rated for the pump's flow temperatures.
Every job follows the same disciplined sequence, so you always know where we are and what's next.
We check property type, existing system, insulation basics, and BUS eligibility before you commit to anything. If a heat pump isn't right for you, we say so.
A room-by-room heat-loss calculation, radiator/emitter audit, mains flow test, cylinder review, outdoor-unit siting and noise assessment.
Written design with sizing, emitter changes, cylinder spec, controls strategy, plus a fixed price and grant paperwork walk-through via our Q-Smart partnership.
MCS-certified installation, commissioning to design flow temperatures, weather compensation set up, and cylinder integration completed.
Walk-through, controls training, warranty registration, and ongoing support. We come back if performance drifts.
Eligible households can claim the full Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant via our Q-Smart partnership — handled as part of the install.
Typically a fraction of the CO₂ per kWh of gas heat once the grid electricity mix is factored in.
Correctly designed systems hold temperature all day at lower flow temps — no boiler on-off cycling, no cold-morning blasts.
Cylinder reheats scheduled onto off-peak electricity via a compatible smart tariff can dramatically reduce hot water cost.
Heat pumps and underfloor heating are made for each other — low flow temp, high radiant efficiency, even comfort.
Correctly sized emitters, cylinder and controls give you a system that still works well in year 10, not one you regret in year 2.
Every install starts with a room-by-room heat-loss survey — U-values estimated from fabric, air-change losses, orientation and shading. That drives the pump kW, the design flow temperature, and every radiator / underfloor circuit output. Guessing at kW from the old boiler rating is how heat pumps end up undersized (cold house) or oversized (short-cycling, expensive).
Heat pumps prefer lower flow temperatures. That usually means larger radiators in a few key rooms (or underfloor heating on a new floor), not every radiator changed. We identify which emitters need upsizing and which are already big enough — a proper audit saves unnecessary spend.
Heat pumps pair with unvented cylinders sized to the household — typically 210L to 300L for a family home. Cylinders are speced for the pump's flow temperatures, with weekly Legionella cycles built into the controls. Reheat schedules can be shifted onto off-peak electricity via a smart tariff to cut running cost.
The outdoor unit needs clearance for airflow and access for service. We check distance to boundaries, noise assessment against MCS/permitted development rules, and pick a location that avoids bedroom windows and awkward pipe runs. Vibration mounts and correct condensate drainage prevent long-term nuisance.
Weather compensation is not optional — it lets the pump run at the lowest possible flow temp for the outside conditions, which is how running cost stays low. Pair with a smart tariff (Octopus Cosy, Agile or equivalent), schedule the cylinder onto cheap periods, and the sums start to look very different.
Eligible homeowners in England and Wales can claim up to £7,500 towards an ASHP install via the government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme. We handle the eligibility check and application via our Q-Smart partnership, which provides the MCS certification required for the grant.
Total cost depends on property size, emitter upgrades and cylinder work. Eligible customers can claim up to £7,500 through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme via our Q-Smart partnership, which is deducted from the price. We give a written fixed quote after a full survey.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has criteria around property type, EPC recommendations and system replacement. We check eligibility for you as part of the initial review — no charge, no obligation.
A straightforward install is typically 3–5 days on site once materials are delivered. Larger installs with underfloor heating or extensive emitter upgrades run longer. Design and grant paperwork happen before we start on site.
Yes — when correctly designed to your heat loss and paired with correctly sized emitters. British winters are well within the operating range of modern ASHPs; the trick is design, not the technology.
Modern units run at conversational volume outside and are inaudible from most rooms indoors. Correct siting keeps them well within permitted development noise limits.
Warranties are typically 5–7 years depending on manufacturer, backed by MCS installer support and our service team. Modern heat pumps are highly reliable when correctly installed.
Usually not. A proper heat-loss audit identifies which rooms need uprating and which are already fine. We size the change to what's genuinely needed.
Yes. PV plus a heat pump is a natural pairing, especially with a hot-water cylinder that can absorb midday solar generation. We can design the controls to make the most of both.
Yes — we cover Rochdale, Oldham, Manchester, Salford, Bury, Ashton-under-Lyne and surrounding Greater Manchester areas via our Q-Smart partnership for MCS certification.
A well-designed and installed air source heat pump typically lasts 15–20 years with annual servicing, comparable to a gas boiler.
We'll check BUS eligibility, run a heat-loss review, and give you an honest answer. If a heat pump is right for your property, we'll design and install one that actually works. If not, we'll tell you.
One team, one standard — across every plumbing and heating job in Greater Manchester.
