How long does an air source heat pump installation take?

The stages, step by step

Every installation follows roughly the same order. The times below are typical ranges taken from published UK guides, not promises. Your own home will set the pace.

1. A few hours

   Home survey

   An engineer checks your rooms, windows, insulation, radiators and pipework, and where the outdoor unit and hot water cylinder could go. British Gas says about a couple of hours; Hometree says from a couple of hours to over a day.

2. No set time

   Heat loss calculation and design

   The installer works out how much heat each room loses on a cold day, then sizes the heat pump, cylinder and any radiators to match. You receive a design and a quote to approve.

3. Usually quick

   Planning check

   Most homes in England can fit an air source heat pump without applying for planning permission. If an application is needed, GOV.UK says most are decided within 8 weeks.

4. Varies

   Waiting for a date

   This depends on the installer's diary. As one example, Octopus Energy says its installations are usually 4 to 16 weeks away once approvals are complete.

5. 2 to 5 days

   Installation

   From a couple of days (Vaillant) to around five days (British Gas). Heat Geek puts it at about 3 to 5 working days, depending on the size of the home and whether pipework or radiators need changing.

6. Final day

   Commissioning and handover

   The system is filled, tested and set up, then you are shown how to use the controls.

7. Afterwards

   Paperwork

   Your installer tells your local electricity network operator about the new heat pump and issues your MCS certificate, the record that the system was fitted to the national standard.

What a typical installation week looks like

EDF publishes a useful day by day outline for its own installations, which take four or five days in total.

The outdoor unit is often the quickest part. Hometree notes it can be mounted and connected in just a few hours once the work inside the home is done.

Radiators and the hot water cylinder

Do you need planning permission?

For most homes in England, no. Rules that came into force on 29 May 2025 made it easier to fit an air source heat pump as permitted development, which means no planning application is needed as long as certain limits are met:

• The old rule that the unit must sit at least 1 metre from your boundary has gone.
• A detached house can have up to two heat pumps. Other houses can have one.
• The outdoor unit must be no bigger than 1.5 cubic metres.
• The installation must pass the MCS 020 a) sound calculation, which checks the noise the unit will make at nearby homes.

If you live in a listed building or a conservation area, the Planning Portal advises checking with your council first.

What can make it take longer

Most delays come from the house itself or from paperwork, not from fitting the heat pump.

Radiators or pipework

Several radiators or lengths of pipework needing to be replaced

Hot water cylinder

A new cylinder, especially if it has to go in a new place

The old boiler

Removing it, which Aira says can add time

Fuse board

An older fuse board that needs upgrading first

Bigger electrical load

Between 60 and 100 amps, MCS says the installer must apply to the network operator first, who assesses it within 10 working days

Planning application

For example a listed building, usually decided within 8 weeks

Scaffolding

For awkward access. Octopus Energy puts it up the week before

Will you have heating and hot water during the work?

British Gas says hot water can be off for up to a day, and an immersion heater (an electric element inside the cylinder) may avoid any gap. Octopus Energy says hot water is usually back on by the end of the first day. EDF fits the heat pump before removing the old boiler to keep the time without heating as short as possible.

How AuraNord does it

AuraNord, part of Nord Group, works in six stages: an online consultation, a home survey, design and quote, installation, commissioning and handover, then ongoing support. At the survey, an engineer carries out a room by room heat loss calculation and checks your pipework, radiators and cylinder sizing, so the quote shows any radiator upgrades before work starts.

At handover, every setting is checked and you are shown how to use your controls. AuraNord is MCS certified and covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.