Skip to content
AirToAir Readyby Opus Leads

The £2,500 grant for air-to-air heat pumps, explained without the sales pitch.

What the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) pays for, who can get it, how the process works, and why, today, nobody can claim it for an air-to-air system.

Facts checked
1 October 2026
Sources
Ofgem, GOV.UK, MCS

Certified installers: 0

Pending MCS certification

The short version

  • Since 28 April 2026, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £2,500 towards an eligible air-to-air heat pump in a home in England or Wales.[1]
  • It must be fitted by an installer certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) for air-to-air systems. None are certified yet.[4]
  • The system must be designed to heat your whole home. A unit bought mainly for cooling will not qualify.
  • Most air-to-air heat pumps do not heat water, so you may need a separate way to do that.

What an air-to-air heat pump is

An air-to-air heat pump moves heat from the outside air into your rooms through indoor units, using electricity. Most can also cool.

An outdoor unit draws heat from the outside air. Refrigerant pipework carries it through the wall to indoor units, usually mounted high on a wall, which blow warm air into each room. There are no radiators and no wet heating pipes. Because the refrigerant cycle can run in reverse, most systems can also cool your home in summer.

The outdoor unit of a split system heat pump, mounted on a bracket on a red-brick wall beside a window.
A white wall-mounted indoor unit high on a bedroom wall, above a framed picture and the bed.

Most air-to-air heat pumps do not heat water, so you may need a separate way to provide hot water.

Section through a house with an air-to-air heat pump: an outdoor unit, refrigerant pipework through the wall, indoor wall units blowing warm air into two rooms, and a dashed hot water cylinder that most systems do not provide.

What the grant pays

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a UK government grant administered by Ofgem. For an air-to-air heat pump it pays £2,500, which comes straight off the price your installer quotes you.[1] You never receive the money yourself; your installer claims it from Ofgem.

For comparison, the scheme pays £7,500 for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump.[1] Those systems heat water too, and usually cost more to install.

Who qualifies

These are the main conditions, summarised from Ofgem and GOV.UK.[1][2] Your installer checks them before applying.

  1. 1.The property is in England or Wales.
  2. 2.For air-to-air heat pumps, the property is residential (non-residential buildings are excluded for this technology).
  3. 3.You own the property: owner-occupiers, private landlords and second-home owners can all apply through an installer.
  4. 4.The heat pump replaces fossil fuel or electric heating, such as gas, oil, LPG or electric heaters. It cannot replace an existing low-carbon system.
  5. 5.The property is not social housing, and most new builds are excluded (qualifying self-builds can apply).
  6. 6.The property has not already had government funding for the same technology.
  7. 7.An MCS-certified installer applies on your behalf, and you confirm the application with Ofgem within 14 days.

For MCS and the grant, the system must be designed and optimised to heat the whole home. Systems sold primarily for cooling do not qualify.

How you get it

The scheme is installer-led. In practice:

  1. You ask an MCS-certified installer for a survey and quote. The £2,500 is shown as a deduction.
  2. Your installer applies to Ofgem on your behalf.
  3. Ofgem contacts you to confirm. You must respond within 14 calendar days or the application may be rejected.[1]
  4. Ofgem issues a voucher. Your installer fits and commissions the system, redeems the voucher, and you pay the balance.

Why nobody can claim it yet

No installers are certified to fit air-to-air heat pumps under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) yet.[4]

MCS has published the product and installation standards (MCS 007, MCS 031b and MIS 3005-D/I) and UKAS approved the updated installer scheme in September 2026.[4]

Installer certification bodies, such as NAPIT and Certsure (NICEIC), must now gain UKAS accreditation for air-to-air scope before they can certify installers. Timescales depend on each body.[4]

RevDateDescription
ADec 2025MCS publishes air-to-air product and installation standards.
B28 Apr 2026The £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant applies to air-to-air heat pumps.
CSep 2026UKAS approves the updated MCS installer scheme with air-to-air in scope.
RevDateDescription
DPendingCertification bodies gain UKAS accreditation to certify air-to-air installers.
EPendingFirst installers certified. We email everyone on the waitlist for their area.

What to watch out for

  • Grant offers today. Until certified installers exist, nobody can apply for the £2,500 on your behalf. Anyone offering the grant for an air-to-air system today should be able to show you their MCS certificate covering air-to-air heat pumps.
  • “Free air conditioning”. The grant is for heating the whole home. Cooling is a welcome extra, not the purpose, and a cooling-led design puts the grant at risk.
  • Fit now, claim later. The installation has to be MCS-certified, and the application made within 120 days of commissioning.[1] A system fitted by an installer without air-to-air certification is very unlikely to be claimable afterwards.
  • Hot water. If your boiler also heats your water, ask every installer how they would handle it before you compare prices.

What to do now

Take the two-minute check to see whether your home fits the shape of the scheme, and join the waitlist so we can tell you when certified installers start covering your postcode. Or read the official pages: Ofgem(opens in a new tab) and MCS(opens in a new tab).

Check your homeAre you an installer?

References

Every fact on this page comes from these pages. Last checked 1 October 2026.

  1. 1Ofgem: Boiler Upgrade Scheme for property owners(opens in a new tab)
  2. 2GOV.UK: Check if you're eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme(opens in a new tab)
  3. 3MCS: Air-to-air heat pumps(opens in a new tab)
  4. 4MCS: Getting ready for air-to-air (implementation update)(opens in a new tab)