Heat Pump Installation Timeframes: A Breakdown of the Installation Process

Heat pumps are one of the most popular home improvement upgrades, minimising your energy bills and extracting ambient energy from the air to replace conventional electricity or gas-powered central heating systems. You can use a heat pump for water heating for radiators, underfloor heating, sinks, showers, baths, taps and hot water storage.

While the benefits of a heat pump installation are well established, we appreciate that many homeowners are concerned about disruption and inconvenience, wanting a property with lower running costs and using more sustainable renewable energy, but worried about weeks of pump installation and building work.

Gas Worx professional heat pump installation engineers, having completed a pre-installation consultation, should have your heat pump fitted and functional within two to five days – we’ll explain some of the factors that might impact the timeframe and discuss how it all works.

What Is Involved in a Heat Pump Installation?

The first step is to arrange a good time to come and visit you at home, to answer a few quick questions. This consultation is important because we can discuss where you’d like your air source heat pump to be positioned and review your central heating and hot water systems to ensure we provide tailored recommendations.

It’s important to map out the right spot for your air source heat pump since this might be influenced by your property size, the number of occupants, the energy insulation in place, and the type of heat pump you’d like.

Following an on-site survey the installation work normally requires around two to five days. When the external outdoor unit has been fitted, our engineers will connect an indoor cylinder by wiring it in and adding links to your heating units, such as radiators.

Depending on the size of your property and the distance from your units, the wiring can usually be completed by drilling small holes through the appropriate wall spaces. From there, we deliver post-installation services, such as finishing the appearance of newly fitted pipes.

Air-source heat pumps are perfect for pretty much every property and are more compact and versatile than ground-source pumps, which command a considerable amount of unused outdoor space. In contrast, you can fit an air source pump in any area that has a clear zone of ventilation.

It’s also better to install a heat pump on stable ground, such as a concrete base or existing patio. However, you can fit pumps onto walls and within side returns to ensure smaller properties, including terraced houses and flats, have the opportunity to switch to clean, green, free heating.

How Long Does it Take for an Engineer to Fit a Heat Pump?

As we’ve indicated, the average installation time varies up to five days. That can depend on the complexity of the installation, but the positive is that because the majority of the work occurs outdoors, you can continue uninterrupted for much of the duration.

If your property is small, there’s a good chance we could finish work in just one day – something we’ll confirm during the initial site consultation so you can make informed choices and schedule the project accordingly.

Our focus is always to deliver impeccable service, so we’ll clarify at the outset if we suspect the work may take slightly longer, explain why, and provide guidance about any foreseen disruption to ensure you are comfortable with this.

In most cases, you won’t need planning permission or any formal approval for your new heat pump, so you can proceed based on convenience. For instance, some homeowners like to have their heat pumps fitted while they are on holiday, returning to a fully functional sustainable heating system with zero interruptions.

We’d recommend having your planning obligations checked before installation starts as a safeguard since rules do vary between local authorities.

The Gas Worx engineering team typically deploys two professional heat pump installers to expedite the installation of your heat pump and minimise the time we need to spend on site. We can also organise a qualified in-house electrician to complete the requisite wiring work and testing.

After the baseline tasks are complete, we commission your heat pump system and run through all the functionalities to ensure you are confident in managing your new eco-friendly system and know what to do if you ever need support with maintenance and servicing.

Which Factors Will Impact the Heat Pump Installation Process?

The primary element that will affect the duration of your installation is your allocated outdoor space; as we’ve indicated, a consultation is essential so we can verify that your selected heat pump will slot into the area and is of a suitable size for your property and heating requirements.

Decommissioning and removing existing gas boilers is a relatively quick task, but very large or old boilers may need extra time. The priority is safety and efficiency while complying with disposal regulations for older appliances.

The installation process is uncomplicated since contemporary, advanced heat pumps feature piping and controls that are comparable to conventional boilers, usually with units or components that need to be fitted both indoors and outdoors. Your outside unit is a little larger, collecting ambient air and compressing it to generate warmth. That air then filters through piping to your heating, hot water pipes and radiators to produce heat, managed by your thermostatic controls.

Provided you have an outdoor space with enough airflow, an engineer will simply bolt the unit to the ground and fit durable brackets to ensure the pump cannot move or become obstructed during extreme weather, such as high winds.

Finishing fixes can influence the total duration of the installation work, where we test everything and make sure the sensors on premium heat pumps are working efficiently. Throughout the process, we provide regular updates so you are aware of the progress made and understand when the project should be fully completed.

Once we are done, your air source heat pump will usually operate for a lifespan of 20 years, delivering exceptional renewable energy efficiency and reliable heating while removing reliance on fossil fuels and keeping your home warm, comfortable and cosy.