Heat Pumps in Scottish Winters
An air source heat pump takes heat from the outside air and uses it for heating and hot water. In colder weather the unit works harder to deliver the same heat. The survey checks the existing emitters, hot water, a place for the outdoor unit, and the electrical supply. Home Energy Scotland can pay a grant of up to £7,500 towards a heat pump that runs all of the heating and hot water, and you can add an optional interest-free loan of £7,500. 0% VAT on a heat pump install at your home until 31 March 2027. Planning follows the national householder rules.
Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · VAT Notice 708/6 · Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026
Cold air and the house
The outdoor unit absorbs heat from the air around it. The indoor side delivers that heat to radiators, underfloor heating, or a hot water cylinder, depending on what the survey finds. A house with small radiators and a house with a recent heating system are different designs. The quote lists the pump scope, the materials, and the labour, including pipework or emitter changes when they are part of the job.
The service page is heat pumps. Solar, if you want it priced on the same visit, is solar panels. Funding steps are in heat pump funding in Scotland.
Home Energy Scotland
Home Energy Scotland can pay a grant of up to £7,500 towards a heat pump, and you can add an optional interest-free loan of £7,500. The same amounts apply to air, ground, and water source heat pumps, and to a heat network connection. The heat pump has to run all of your heating and hot water. Rural and island homes can get an extra £1,500 on the heating grant when an advisor confirms the address.
Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026
The applicant is a homeowner of an existing Scottish home that is their only or main private residence. Funding is reserved when a written offer is issued, signed within 14 days, with nine months to complete and claim. A heat pump application can start before an EPC is in place. Where this funding pays for the system, the installer and the product are MCS certified. A replacement heat pump is listed with an interest-free loan of up to £7,500. Rural households are described on the scheme page as able to claim up to £18,000 in grant funding across heating and energy efficiency.
VAT
0% VAT on a heat pump install at your home until 31 March 2027. The heat pump is fixed in place and takes heat from the outside air for your heating, your hot water, or both. From 1 April 2027 the rate is 5%.
VAT Notice 708/6 · correct as of 3 October 2026
Where the unit can sit
You can usually fit one air source heat pump on a house, a building that contains flats, or a flat, or in the grounds, without a planning application. You need to apply when it sticks out by more than 1 metre. In a conservation area it sits at ground floor on the back of the building. In the grounds it stays behind the front wall and behind a side wall that faces a road, and within 3 metres high. You need to apply in a World Heritage Site or in the grounds of a listed building. The unit is for heating or hot water at home, and it meets MCS 020 planning standards or an equivalent.
Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026
The same national rules cover flats. Solar on a flat follows the solar rules, and a heat pump follows the heat pump rules. In a conservation area, or in the grounds of a listed building, other changes to the outside of a flat need a planning application.
Circular 1/2024, flats · correct as of 3 October 2026
Area pages: Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian, West Lothian, Penicuik. The grants guide repeats the sourced amounts.
The offer, the loan, and the visit
Home Energy Scotland reserves funding when the written offer is issued. The agreement is signed within 14 days. The claim window is nine months. Loan funding, where the applicant takes it, carries an administrative fee of 1.5% of the loan value, up to £150. Repayment periods on the scheme page are up to 5 years under £5,000, up to 10 years from £5,000 to £9,999, and up to 12 years above £10,000. Correct as of 3 October 2026. Those are scheme terms. A Pentland quote is the installation scope after the survey.
On site we look at emitter sizes, the existing cylinder, a position for the outdoor unit that meets the planning rules above, and the electrical supply. The quote lists materials and labour. If you also want solar, say so. Solar panels and the Edinburgh solar guide cover the roof. The workshop is in Penicuik, at Unit 2b Eastfield Industrial Estate, EH26 8HA. What to have ready for that visit is the heat pump checklist for Scottish homes. Send the postcode through the quote form.
Ground and water source heat pumps, including the pipes, can sit in the grounds of a house or a building that contains a flat. An air source unit follows the air source rules above. Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian, West Lothian, and Penicuik point back to the same national rules.
Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026
Questions
What does a heat pump use in cold weather?
Heat from the outside air. Colder air means the unit works harder. The survey sizes the job to the house.
What grant is listed?
Up to £7,500, plus an optional interest-free loan of £7,500, for a heat pump that runs all of the heating and hot water.
Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026
Who can apply?
A homeowner whose existing Scottish home is their only or main private residence. An advisor confirms the address, including any rural uplift of £1,500.
What certification does the funding ask for?
An MCS certified installer and an MCS certified product when the Home Energy Scotland funding is used for the clean heating system.
Where can the unit go?
One unit, sticking out by 1 metre or less, at ground floor on the back in a conservation area. You need to apply in the grounds of a listed building or in a World Heritage Site.
Send the form with your postcode and what you want priced. We survey your home, then send the written quote. You decide after you have read it.