A Glasgow homeowner looking into an air source heat pump expected a recently built house with low heat loss to have relatively low installation costs.
Instead, two quoted bids came in close to £18,000 ($24,000), and many Reddit commenters said that price looked excessive.
Here's what to know
According to a Reddit thread on the r/UKHeatPumps forum, the property is a detached Glasgow home built in 2023 that spans about 1,206 square feet and has a preliminary heat loss estimate of around 3.6 kilowatts.
One installer quoted about £18,000 ($24,000) for a Mitsubishi Ecodan R290 6kW setup, while another came in at roughly £17,800 ($23,600) for a Panasonic Aquarea L Generation 5kW system.
The original poster wrote, "So I'm mainly trying to understand whether these kinds of equipment prices and margins are normal for an MCS installation, or whether there are additional components, costs, or services included in those equipment figures that wouldn't be obvious from the quotation."
The proposals were hard to compare because their cost breakdowns differed sharply. One included seven radiator replacements and a towel rail for more than £4,500 ($6,000), while the other allowed for just three radiator replacements at about £900 ($1,200). Both quotes were zero-rated for VAT, and both were issued before the Scottish grant/loan.
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Still, commenters were largely in agreement and didn't hold much back. One wrote, "You're getting rinsed."
A second commenter similarly wrote, "I'd say you're being fleeced. Get more quotes."
More background
Even homes that appear well suited to heat pumps can run into sticker shock. Here, part of the concern was not just the total price, but the lack of clarity around whether the quotes reflected legitimate design differences or unusually high margins, especially since the homeowner said retail-style equipment prices looked much lower than the equipment charges being quoted.
The most common advice was to gather more quotes, especially since installers can reach very different conclusions about radiator replacements, material needs, and labor pricing for the same home.
It can also help to ask for a room-by-room heat-loss calculation, target flow temperatures, radiator sizing assumptions, and a clearer explanation of what is included in the equipment price versus the installation price. In some cases, a higher quote may include design work, commissioning, certification, controls, or monitoring that another estimate leaves out.
A high price does not necessarily become reasonable simply because it includes certification or grant eligibility. The issue is not only finding the lowest number, but understanding whether the system is properly sized and whether the pricing is transparent.
Where can I learn more?
These stories look at similar questions about heat pump pricing, installation decisions, and whether big quotes hold up.
• Central New Jersey homeowners got $15K to $20K HVAC quotes and questioned whether a heat pump penciled out.
• A UK homeowner chasing a 400%-efficient heat pump found the switch quickly got messy.
• In a subzero climate, one homeowner weighed a cheaper crossover heat pump after two HVAC bids.
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