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Heat pump cost calculator: your grant, net cost and running costs

Your installed cost, your SEAI grant, what you'd pay, and what a heat pump would cost to run against your current heating. No sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Updated 10 October 2026 · Figures checked 9 October 2026

Your home
Type of home
When was it built?

Leave blank and we'll use the typical size for this type and age (CSO).

On your BER advisory report, in W/K·m². At or under 2.3, a home built before 2007 can skip the technical assessment.

Your heating
Main heating now
Radiators or underfloor?
Grant options
Will it need new radiators?

Your estimate

Showing a typical 3-bed semi-d, 1978–1999, oil heating, BER unknown. Change the answers for your home.

Typical installed cost€16,500–€23,000
Heat pump grant−€10,500
Central heating grant−€2,000
Boiler scrappage grant−€2,000
SEAI grantup to −€14,500

You pay, after the grant

€2,000–€8,500

  • A technical assessment is needed before applying (homes built before 2007), unless your BER shows a Heat Loss Indicator of 2.3 or less.

Checked 09/10/2026 · seai.ie

Running costs a year

Oil now
€1,030–€1,210
Heat pump, standard rate
€450–€1,060

At the Irish field-trial average efficiency (SPF 3.22), about €690 a year.

The range runs from SPF 2.5 (a poorly designed or set-up system) to 4 (a very good one), at 34.38c/kWh, excluding standing charges. A smart or night tariff helps most when you shift hot water and some heating to cheap hours; a heat pump runs best long and low, so not all of it can move.

Payback on running costs

Not certain

Savings depend on your tariff and how well the system is designed, so payback on running costs alone isn't certain.

Checked 09/10/2026 · seai.ie

Is the home suitable?

Needs a technical check

Homes built before 2007 need SEAI's technical assessment unless the BER shows a Heat Loss Indicator at or under the threshold. Many older homes, including stone and solid-wall ones, work well once the heat loss is known.

Next: A technical assessment (€200 grant) shows exactly what's needed.

How we calculate this

Everything is a range, because two homes of the same type can need very different systems. The steps are the same for every home, and every number comes from a public source, dated. For prices in more depth, see what a heat pump costs in Ireland.

  1. Installed cost. The published Irish price range for your home's size (from your floor area, or the typical size for its type and age from the CSO), plus radiator upgrades if you need them.1
  2. Grant. SEAI's amounts for your home: €10,500 for the heat pump, €2,000 if you need new radiators or underfloor heating, and €2,000 if you're removing a qualifying boiler or heating system. Apartments get up to €11,500. Never more than the cost.2 Read more about the SEAI heat pump grant.
  3. How much heat your home uses. The CSO's metered gas use per m² for homes in your BER band (using your BER if you know it, or the average for your home's type and age), times your floor area. We use what homes actually burn, not the BER's theoretical figure, which overstates older homes.5
  4. Running costs now. That fuel use times SEAI's price for your fuel.4
  5. Running costs with a heat pump. The useful heat (fuel use times your current system's efficiency) divided by the heat pump's seasonal performance (SPF), times the standard electricity price. The range covers SEAI's SPF band; the single figure uses the average measured in Irish homes.4,9 We don't price it all at the night rate: a heat pump runs best long and low, so only hot water and some heating can move to cheap hours.
  6. Payback. What you pay after the grant divided by the yearly saving. If the saving might be zero or less, we say payback isn't certain rather than show a number.
  7. Suitability. Not your BER letter. Homes built from 2007, or with a Heat Loss Indicator of 2.3 or less, are likely straightforward; other older homes need SEAI's technical assessment; we only say work is likely when your own certificate shows E to G.2 Your installer decides from a room-by-room heat loss.

Fuel prices we use

SEAI's Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison, cent per kWh, including VAT, excluding standing charges.

  • Oil

    c/kWh
    11.72c
    Detail
    Kerosene, typical discounted price (1,000 L delivered); schedule price 12.60c

  • Gas

    c/kWh
    13c
    Detail
    Natural gas Band D2 (5,556–55,556 kWh a year), the typical household band; plus standing charge

  • LPG

    c/kWh
    17.67c
    Detail
    Bulk LPG; plus standing charge

  • Solid fuel

    c/kWh
    9.45c
    Detail
    Low-smoke coal ovoids, 40 kg bag; briquettes 16.71c, bagged hardwood 15.80c

  • Storage heaters

    c/kWh
    15.42c
    Detail
    Night-rate electricity (needs a second meter)

  • Electric heaters

    c/kWh
    34.38c
    Detail
    Electricity Band DD (5,000–15,000 kWh a year)

Heat pump performance we assume

SEAI gives air to water heat pumps a seasonal performance of 2.5–4: each unit of electricity gives that many units of heat. An SEAI-funded field trial measured 36 heat pumps in Irish homes, mostly retrofits with radiators, and found an average of 3.22. Those were mostly deep retrofits with engaged owners, so a typical job can do worse. No Irish study splits the figure by radiators or underfloor heating, so we don't either.

  • Bottom of SEAI's band: a poorly designed or set-up system

    SPF
    2.5

  • Irish field trial, middle half of 36 homes

    SPF
    2.94–3.46

  • Irish field trial, average

    SPF
    3.22

  • Top of SEAI's band: a very well designed low-temperature system

    SPF
    4

We also assume homes built from 2007 have condensing boilers, and we apply gas homes' metered use to oil, LPG and solid fuel homes (the same heat need, a different fuel).

Worked examples

Three homes, calculated exactly as the tool does it. They're the same examples used on our cost page.

  • 3-bed semi-d, 1978–1999, oil heating, BER unknown

    Installed
    €16,500–€23,000
    Grant
    €14,500
    You pay
    €2,000–€8,500
    Running now
    €1,030–€1,210
    Heat pump a year
    €450–€1,060 (about €690)
    Payback
    Not certain

  • Bungalow built before 1978, oil heating, BER E1

    Installed
    €17,000–€27,000
    Grant
    €12,500–€14,500
    You pay
    €2,500–€14,500
    Running now
    €1,690–€1,950
    Heat pump a year
    €740–€1,720 (about €1,130)
    Payback
    Not certain

  • Apartment, 2007–2020, storage heaters, BER B

    Installed
    €14,500–€21,000
    Grant
    €11,500
    You pay
    €3,000–€9,500
    Running now
    €880–€1,030
    Heat pump a year
    €440–€830 (about €600)
    Payback
    5.1–190 yrs

Questions people ask

How accurate is the calculator?
It gives ranges, not a quote. Installed costs come from published Irish price guides, the grant from SEAI's rules, and running costs from SEAI fuel prices and CSO data on how much energy Irish homes actually use. A real quote follows a survey of your home, and can land outside the range.
Why does it say payback isn't certain?
Because at standard electricity prices, switching from oil can save little or nothing for some homes, and that depends on your tariff and how well the system is designed. We show that honestly instead of a payback figure the numbers can't support. A smart or night tariff helps if you move hot water and some heating to cheap hours, but a heat pump runs best long and low, so not all of it can move.
Do you keep my answers?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing to us. Your answers are kept in this browser tab only, so the quote form can pre-fill them if you go on to ask for quotes.

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Sources and method

  1. 1.GetSolarPanels.ie, Air to Water Heat Pump Cost Ireland 2026 (updated 18 Jun 2026) (basic replacement €13,000–€16,000); glasmo.ie guide (updated May 2026) (under 100 m² €13,000–€15,000). Checked 10 October 2026. Published guide figure, not an official source.
  2. 2.SEAI, Heat pump system grant page. Checked 9 October 2026.
  3. 3.SEAI, Better Energy Homes Homeowner Application Guide (5 Oct 2026). Checked 9 October 2026.
  4. 4.SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison, 1 July 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
  5. 5.CSO, Household Gas Consumption by BER 2022 (Table A; 233,735 dwellings). Checked 9 October 2026.
  6. 6.CSO, Domestic BER Q4 2024, Table 13. Checked 9 October 2026.
  7. 7.CSO, Domestic BER Q2 2026, Table 12. Checked 9 October 2026.
  8. 8.CSO, Domestic BER Q2 2026, background notes. Checked 9 October 2026.
  9. 9.SEAI-funded FactHP field trial, Final Data Analysis Report (LIT, 15 Dec 2020), Table 2. Checked 10 October 2026.

How we check and update our figures