Heat Pumps Cornwall

Air source vs ground source heat pumps in Cornwall

Both types use the same principle, but they collect heat differently. For most Cornwall homes an air source heat pump is the right answer; ground source comes into its own on larger rural properties with land available.

SCOP = Seasonal Coefficient of Performance — units of heat produced per unit of electricity used. Costs are indicative Cornwall ranges; your free CCS survey gives an exact figure.

Read our full guides to air source heat pump installation in Cornwall and ground source heat pumps in Cornwall for the detail on each.

Heat pumps for off-gas and rural Cornwall

Cornwall has one of the highest proportions of off-gas-grid homes in England. If your home is heated by an oil boiler, an LPG tank or electric storage heaters, a heat pump is usually the single biggest saving you can make — because you are competing against expensive, volatile fuels rather than mains gas.

• Replacing oil: oil prices swing sharply, and an oil boiler runs at 80–90% efficiency. A heat pump at SCOP 3.8 delivers heat far more cheaply per kWh, and you remove the cost and hassle of oil deliveries and tank maintenance.
• Replacing LPG: LPG is one of the most expensive heating fuels in the UK. Switching to a heat pump typically halves or better the running cost while eliminating bottle and bulk-tank charges.
• Replacing electric storage heaters: a heat pump uses roughly a quarter of the electricity to deliver the same heat, and gives you proper thermostatic control room by room.
• Period and granite properties: Cornwall's older housing stock can run on a heat pump with correct sizing, larger emitters or underfloor heating, and sensible insulation. We design every system around the building.

Because we cover the whole county from Pool, Redruth, we install across rural Cornwall as readily as the main towns — from the far west around Penzance to the eastern parishes near Liskeard and Looe.

Heat pump grants in Cornwall: £7,500, or £9,000 off the gas grid

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) pays your grant through your MCS certified installer — we apply on your behalf and discount it from the quote, so you never pay the full amount upfront. The rate depends on the technology and on what you are replacing:

That £9,000 band matters more in Cornwall than almost anywhere else: oil is the dominant off-grid heating fuel here, and an oil-heated home with no gas main is exactly the case the uplift was written for. The rate is the same £7,500 base whether you choose air source or ground source.

• No insulation precondition. The requirement to act on outstanding loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations was removed in May 2024, and the valid-EPC requirement in April 2026.
• 0% VAT on heat pump installations in homes until 31 March 2027; the 5% reduced rate applies from 1 April 2027 (HMRC VAT Notice 708/6).
• New builds are excluded unless they are self-builds, and a property cannot be funded by more than one public grant.
• MCS certified installer required — the grant cannot be applied for after a non-MCS installation. The current regulations allow Ofgem to issue vouchers until 31 December 2029.
• Warm Homes: Local Grant can help lower-income households through the council: income usually £36,000 a year or less, EPC D to G, privately owned or privately rented.

Full eligibility and the application process are on our Boiler Upgrade Scheme Cornwall page. We never invent grant rates — every figure here is the published GOV.UK rate, checked on 27 September 2026.

Do you need planning permission for a heat pump in Cornwall?

Usually not. Since 29 May 2025 an air source heat pump on a house in England is permitted development under Class G of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, within these limits: one outdoor unit on a terraced or semi-detached house and two on a detached house, a unit no larger than 1.5 cubic metres, and compliance with the MCS 020 a) planning standard — which caps predicted noise at 37.0 dB(A) at the assessment position outside a neighbour's window or door. The old rule requiring a metre from the boundary is gone, and the unit must not be used solely for cooling.

Three Cornish situations change the answer, and they are common here:

• Conservation areas — the historic centres of Truro, Penzance, Falmouth, Charlestown and dozens of villages. Inside one, a heat pump is not permitted development on a wall or roof that fronts a highway, or where it would sit nearer a highway than the house. A rear position usually keeps it permitted development.
• The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (inscribed 2006), which takes in the Camborne and Redruth mining district among its ten areas. The same highway-facing restriction applies as in a conservation area.
• Listed buildings — Class G does not apply to a listed building or anything in its curtilage, so those need planning permission and, where the work affects the building's character, listed building consent.

Ground source heat pumps sit under a separate class with no Part 14 limits, which can make them the simpler planning route on a large rural plot. We check listed status, conservation area and World Heritage Site boundaries for your address at the survey, before any unit position is agreed.

The honest disadvantages of a heat pump

A heat pump is not the right answer for every property, and the cases where it disappoints are predictable:

• It needs the right emitters. A heat pump runs at a lower flow temperature than a boiler, so undersized radiators will leave rooms cool. The room-by-room heat loss calculation tells you which radiators need upsizing before you commit — not afterwards.
• Upfront cost is higher than a boiler swap, even after the grant. The payback comes from what you stop buying: oil, LPG or peak-rate electricity.
• It runs longer and lower. A heat pump is designed to hold a steady temperature rather than blast heat twice a day, which is an adjustment if you are used to firing a boiler morning and evening.
• The outdoor unit is visible and audible. Modern units are quiet, but siting matters — the MCS 020 a) assessment exists precisely because a badly sited unit can be a problem for a neighbour.
• A leaky, uninsulated home stays expensive to heat. Insulation is no longer a grant condition, but physics has not changed: the cheaper the heat demand, the better the heat pump performs.

If any of those rule your property out, we will say so at the survey rather than sell you a system that will not perform.

How to check a Cornwall heat pump installer

Whoever you get quotes from, three checks separate a system that performs from one that disappoints:

• MCS certification for heat pumps — certification is per technology, so confirm the installer is listed for heat pumps, not only for solar PV. It is also the condition of the grant.
• A room-by-room heat loss calculation before a quote, not a rule-of-thumb kW figure taken from the floor area.
• A written radiator schedule saying which emitters are being kept, upsized or moved — this is where low-cost quotes usually hide the difference.

Heat pump brands we install

CCS is brand-neutral and specifies the right heat pump for each property. We regularly install market-leading units from Mitsubishi Ecodan, Daikin and Vaillant aroTHERM Plus, alongside hot-water and controls kit from Worcester Bosch and Mixergy. Our recommendation is based on your heat-loss, emitters and budget — not a single supplier relationship.