Heat pumps in
Edinburgh and the Lothians

The visit looks at the radiators or other emitters, how hot water is made today, a place for the outdoor unit, the consumer unit, and the pipe routes. The quote lists the heat pump scope, the materials, and the labour. Pipework, emitter changes, and a cylinder are included only when the survey shows they are part of the job.

Solar panels or a battery can be looked at on the same visit when you ask for them. The winter note is heat pumps in Scottish winters.

Based in Edinburgh or the Lothians? See air source heat pumps in Edinburgh.

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 grant is funded by the Scottish Government for a homeowner whose existing Scottish home is their only or main home. The same amounts apply to air, ground, and water source heat pumps, and to a heat network connection.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026

The scheme funds heat pumps that supply all of the home's heating and hot water. A rural and island uplift of £1,500 applies to the heating grant where an advisor confirms the address. 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 be made before an EPC is in place. An EPC is required when the application is for energy efficiency improvements, and the measure has to appear as a recommendation on that certificate. After the offer, the claim uses an invoice, a post-install EPC, payment account details, and an MCS certificate for a renewable installation. A replacement heat pump is listed with an interest-free loan of up to £7,500.

Where this funding pays for a clean heating system, the installer and the product are MCS certified. Micro-hydro is the published exception. See heat pump funding in Scotland and the grants guide.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026

0% VAT on a heat pump install at your home until 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 the rate is 5%. The heat pump is fixed in place and takes heat from the outside air for your heating, your hot water, or both. If you only buy the equipment and nobody fits it, VAT is at the standard rate.

VAT Notice 708/6 · correct as of 3 October 2026

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. Edinburgh's heat pump page points householders to that Scottish Government guidance.

Circular 1/2024, flats · Edinburgh heat pump page · correct as of 3 October 2026

Area notes: Edinburgh and Penicuik.