The heat pump itself is only 30–40% of the installed price. The building supplies the rest: emitter upgrades, a heat pump cylinder, pipework, electrical supply, design and certification. Replacing a third of a house's radiators typically adds €2,000–5,000, and a standalone room-by-room heat loss survey costs €350–700.
Where does the money in a heat pump quote actually go?
A useful way to read any quote is as seven cost blocks. Shares below are typical for a European retrofit; new builds shift weight away from emitters and towards the unit itself.
| Cost block | Typical share | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Heat pump unit and indoor module | 30 – 40% | Capacity, monoblock vs split, refrigerant |
| Hot water cylinder and buffer | 10 – 15% | Coil area, volume, material |
| Emitter upgrades | 0 – 30% | Design flow temperature, existing radiator sizes |
| Hydraulics, pipework, insulation | 10 – 15% | Pipe runs, plant room access |
| Electrical works, controls, metering | 5 – 10% | Supply capacity, tariff metering |
| Design, survey, commissioning, certification | 5 – 10% | Scheme requirements (MCS, RGE, BEG) |
| Builder's work, base, scaffolding | 5 – 10% | Siting, roof access, making good |
Two quotes for the same house can differ by €5,000 while quoting almost identical hardware, because one of them priced the emitter and cylinder blocks honestly and the other left them out.
Which building factors move the price most?
Design flow temperature. This is the biggest single lever. A system designed for 55 °C keeps most existing radiators; a system designed for 45 °C needs bigger ones but uses roughly 20–25% less electricity for the next twenty years. The cost you save today is paid back monthly. See flow temperature.
The cylinder. A standard boiler cylinder carries a 0.5–0.8 m² indirect coil, designed around 70 °C primary water. A heat pump delivering 50 °C needs 2.0–3.0 m² to move the same kilowatts, so the cylinder is nearly always replaced. The reasoning is set out in what makes a cylinder heat pump ready?
Electrical supply. A single-phase supply already loaded with an electric shower and an EV charger may need a load assessment, a new consumer unit or a supply upgrade. This is the item most often discovered mid-project.
Siting and noise. Tight urban plots force wall brackets, acoustic enclosures or longer refrigerant and hydraulic runs. Noise limits and permitted-development rules differ by country; see how loud is a heat pump?
System type. A monoblock contains its refrigerant circuit in the outdoor unit and needs no F-gas-certified refrigerant work on site; a split needs certified handling and pipe runs. Monoblocks usually install cheaper.
What are the fixed costs nobody avoids?
Design and paperwork feel like overhead until they fail. A room-by-room heat loss calculation to BS EN 12831-1:2017 is mandatory under the MCS heat pump design standard MIS 3005-D and costs €350–700 when bought standalone, though most installers fold it into an accepted quote. UK self-builders commonly report that MCS-certified installation adds around £1,000 against a non-certified job — which is still far less than the £7,500 grant it unlocks. Continental equivalents work the same way: France requires an RGE installer for MaPrimeRénov', CEE and the éco-PTZ; Germany requires a confirmation issued by an accredited expert or specialist firm before the grant application is submitted.
Why did component costs rise in 2026?
Three simultaneous pressures, none of them local:
- Metals. LME copper set a record near $14,527/t in January 2026, and the EU steel safeguard overhaul from 1 July 2026 cut duty-free quotas to 18.3 Mt while doubling the out-of-quota tariff to 50%.
- Refrigerant transition. The HFC quota stands at 42.9 Mt CO₂e for 2025–2026, roughly half the 2023 level, and the F-gas rules for small monoblock units tighten from 1 January 2027 — the engineering shift to R290 is being paid for now.
- Carbon border costs. The CBAM definitive regime began on 1 January 2026 at €75.36 per tonne for the first quarter, feeding into steel-intensive components.
As a manufacturer of tanks and collectors, Solimpeks sees the same input curve. It is why "wait for prices to drop" is poor advice in 2026 while subsidy rates are falling on a published schedule.
Where can you honestly save?
Improve the fabric before sizing the plant, keep the design flow temperature low, choose a monoblock where siting allows, reuse pipework that is genuinely adequate, and combine the work with a re-roof or rewire that was happening anyway. What you should not cut is the survey, the cylinder or the commissioning — those three decide what the system costs to run.
Frequently asked questions
How much do new radiators add to a heat pump installation?
Replacing a third of a typical house's radiators adds around €2,000–5,000 including labour and making good. Whole-house replacement can double that. The alternative is a higher design flow temperature, which costs 20–25% more electricity every year.
Does a bigger heat pump cost much more?
Less than people expect. Between 8 and 14 kW the unit price rises modestly, so oversizing looks cheap at purchase. It is expensive in use: an oversized unit short-cycles, which shortens compressor life and lowers seasonal efficiency.
Is a split heat pump cheaper than a monoblock?
Usually not, once installation is counted. Splits require F-gas-certified refrigerant work on site and pipe runs between units. Monoblocks arrive sealed and need only hydraulic and electrical connection, which is why they dominate European retrofit pricing.
Should I pay for a heat loss survey before getting quotes?
It is often worth it. An independent room-by-room calculation to EN 12831-1 costs €350–700 and gives you one agreed heat load, so competing quotes differ only on how they meet it rather than on what the house actually needs.