Best Air Source Heat Pumps UK 2026

Best Heat Pumps UK 2026: Comparing the Top Brands

Choosing the right heat pump brand matters almost as much as the installation quality. The five brands below account for the majority of UK residential installations and have earned strong reputations for reliability, efficiency, and installer support. Each has its strengths, and the best choice for your home depends on your priorities: maximum efficiency, quiet operation, or keeping upfront costs down.

A note on what's in this table and what isn't, because it's unusual and we'd rather explain than quietly fudge it.

We've taken the peak COP column out. Every roundup you'll read, including the previous version of this one, gives you a headline COP for each brand: Vaillant 5.1, Daikin 5.1, Mitsubishi 4.6, and so on. We went to check those against the manufacturers' own UK sites in September 2026 and could not stand a single one of them up. Daikin's consumer product pages don't publish a COP at all. Mitsubishi's, Samsung's and Grant's product data isn't retrievable from their public pages either. The numbers circulate between comparison sites without anyone showing the datasheet they came from.

Which is arguably fine, because a peak COP is close to useless anyway. It's a lab measurement at A7/W35, meaning 7°C outdoor air and 35°C water leaving the heat pump, taken on the strongest model in a range. Almost no retrofit runs at a 35°C flow temperature. The figure that decides your bills is the SCOP, and the gap between a well-designed system and a badly designed one is far wider than the gap between any two of these brands. If you want a real per-model number, the MCS Product Directory holds the certified data and your installer can pull your exact model's entry. heatpumpmonitor.org shows what real UK installations actually achieve.

Everything left in the table below we checked on the manufacturer's own site. The decibel column is explained in the notes underneath, because manufacturers publish sound power and sound pressure interchangeably and they are not the same number.

Installed costs include the heat pump unit, labour, controls, and commissioning by an MCS-certified installer, but exclude any additional costs such as new radiators, hot water cylinders, or insulation work.

Heat Pump Brand Comparison Table

Checked against vaillant.co.uk, les.mitsubishielectric.co.uk, daikin.co.uk, samsung.com/uk and grantuk.com in September 2026. Where a cell says "not published", that means we looked and the manufacturer doesn't put the figure on its public UK site, not that the product is worse. Notice that the three decibel figures we did find are three different quantities measured three different ways: that's the whole problem with comparing heat pumps on noise. The one standardised number, and the one your installer's MCS 020 a) calculation must start from, is the A-weighted sound power level held per certified product on the MCS Product Directory. Ask for that. Installed costs are before the £7,500 BUS grant; see our heat pump costs guide for the full breakdown. Warranty terms change, so confirm yours in writing before you sign.

Best Overall: Vaillant Arotherm Plus

The Vaillant aroTHERM plus is the standout choice for most UK homeowners who want the best combination of efficiency, reliability, and long-term peace of mind. It's the one mainstream unit that is R290 across the range, Vaillant's UK service network is the deepest of the five, and the warranty can run longer than anyone else's. But read the small print. Vaillant's own product page says the aroTHERM plus "comes with a 2-year standard guarantee but can be extended up to 7 years", and the footnote limits that extension to Platinum and Renewable Partner installers who also register the appliance with a Vaillant cylinder. Use a lower-tier installer, or fit someone else's cylinder, and you may be charged for the upgrade or not get it at all. If the seven years matters to you, make the installer's Vaillant tier and the cylinder brand a written condition of the quote.

The Arotherm Plus uses R290 (propane) as its refrigerant, which has a global warming potential (GWP) of just 3 compared to 675 for R32. This makes it significantly more environmentally friendly if refrigerant ever leaks, and it future-proofs you against potential F-gas regulations that could affect R32 systems.

Vaillant publishes 54 dB(A) for the 7kW unit without saying whether that's sound power or sound pressure at a distance, and separately markets the newest aroTHERM plus at 44 dB(A) with no basis either. Those can't both be sound power for comparable units, which makes neither much use on its own (see our noise guide for why). Its installer network in the UK is extensive and well-trained. The higher price reflects the premium components and longer warranty, but after the BUS grant, the premium over a mid-range alternative is typically only £1,000–£2,000. See our Vaillant vs Mitsubishi comparison for a head-to-head breakdown.

Best for:

• Homeowners who want the deepest UK service network behind a 20 to 25 year purchase
• Those willing to choose their installer on Vaillant tier to unlock the 7-year term
• Environmentally conscious buyers who want the lowest-GWP refrigerant

Best Budget Option: Samsung EHS

Samsung's EHS (Eco Heating System) range offers solid performance at prices that consistently come in £2,000–£4,000 below the Vaillant and Daikin equivalents, and Samsung's manufacturing scale means component reliability is generally strong.

The catch is transparency. Samsung doesn't publish sound levels or warranty terms for the EHS range on its UK site, so on both you're relying on the installer's paperwork rather than anything you can check yourself. Get the MCS Product Directory entry and the warranty term in writing before you commit. With those pinned down, the Samsung offers genuine value for budget-conscious homeowners.

Samsung has been expanding its MCS-certified installer network in the UK, though it remains less extensive than Vaillant or Mitsubishi. Check installer availability in your area before committing.

Best for:

• Homeowners with tighter budgets who still want a name-brand, reliable unit
• Rental properties where capital cost matters more than running cost optimisation
• Homes in areas with good Samsung installer coverage

Best Installer Network: Mitsubishi Ecodan

Mitsubishi's Ecodan range has built its reputation on quiet operation, and you'll see "45 dB(A) at 1 metre" quoted for the smaller units all over the internet, including in the previous version of this guide. We went looking for it on Mitsubishi's own UK site in September 2026 and it isn't there: the homeowner pages say "award-winning low noise levels" and give no number at all. So we won't tell you the Ecodan is the quietest. What we can tell you is that Mitsubishi has the longest UK track record of the five, a genuinely good reliability reputation, and the widest spread of experienced installers. If noise is your deciding factor, get the A-weighted sound power level for the exact model off the MCS Product Directory and have your installer run the MCS 020 a) calculation for your actual garden. That settles it; a brochure number doesn't.

Mitsubishi has one of the most established installer networks in the UK and has been selling heat pumps here for over two decades. Its reliability record is excellent. The thing to watch is the warranty, because Mitsubishi ties it explicitly to your installer's trading status with them: 3 years from a standard-account installer, up to 5 from an Accredited Ecodan Installer, up to 7 from an Ecodan Business Solutions Partner. Two installers quoting you the same unit can hand you warranties four years apart. Ask which tier yours is, and complete the Ecodan Guarantee registration form once it's in.

Best for:

• Homeowners who want the widest choice of experienced installers near them
• Anyone who values a two-decade UK track record over headline figures
• Buyers willing to shop for an Ecodan Business Solutions Partner to get the 7-year warranty

Also Worth Considering

Daikin Altherma 3

The Daikin is a serious alternative at a slightly lower price point, with a large installer network and the most intuitive controls platform of the five. Daikin publishes more genuinely useful detail than the others too: the Altherma 3 M is rated to run down to −25°C, gets to 60°C for hot water, carries an energy label up to A+++, and the company states its sound-pressure measurement distance instead of leaving you guessing. The reason it doesn't take the top spot is R32 (global warming potential 675 on gov.uk's F-gas list) rather than R290, which has a GWP of 3.

Grant Aerona3

Grant is a British brand with a strong following among rural homeowners moving off oil, where its customer service and parts availability are particularly well-regarded. It doesn't publish performance or noise data on its public site, so you're reliant on the installer's paperwork, but for an off-gas-grid property replacing an oil boiler, Grant's familiarity with rural installation challenges and UK-based support make it a compelling choice. That's also the case where a heat pump saves the most: £520 to £810 a year against oil, plus the extra £1,500 the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays off-gas homes until March 2027.

What to Ask Your Installer

Whatever brand you choose, the installation quality matters as much as the unit itself. Before signing a contract, ask your MCS-certified installer:

• Will you carry out a room-by-room heat loss calculation?
• What flow temperature will the system be set to, and will any radiators need upgrading?
• Is a hot water cylinder included, and what size do you recommend for our household?
• How will the system be commissioned and what monitoring will be set up?

For guidance on what to expect from the installation process, see our guide to heat pump installation. For the full cost breakdown including installation, read our heat pump costs guide. Once your heat pump is installed, a smart thermostat and an energy monitor will help you get the most from it. A smart plug on the heat pump's circuit can track actual electricity consumption in real time.