Vector Heat insights
Heat pump guides
Thinking about a heat pump, comparing a quote or getting to know the one you already have? I’ve grouped our guides around the questions that come up on surveys and installations.
Start here
Is a heat pump right for your home?
Start with how it works, then look at suitability and the compromises. You can get into model choices once you know what your home needs.
How Does a Heat Pump Work?
Follow the four-stage refrigerant cycle, see how it heats your home in winter and find out what equipment goes indoors.
Are Heat Pumps Worth It?
An honest UK answer on running costs, grants, carbon emissions, radiators, hot water and when a heat pump makes sense.
Air Source Heat Pump Disadvantages
Space, disruption, heating routines and specialist aftercare. The compromises I discuss before recommending a heat pump.
Heat Pump vs Gas Boiler
Current running-cost maths, grants, radiators, hot water, comfort and the property checks that decide the better fit.
Are Heat Pumps Noisy?
What a working heat pump sounds like, why positioning and vibration matter, and how to hear one before buying.
Is ground source worth the extra cost?
Actual quotes, predicted savings and the situations that can change the comparison with air source.
Why Air Source Heat Pumps Are Taking The Lead
Why air source heat pumps are often the practical low-carbon heating option for UK homes.
Budget and bills
Installation costs, running costs and grants
The installation quote and the monthly bill answer different questions. These guides explain both, with the assumptions and dates alongside the figures.
What affects the installation cost?
What can stay, what needs changing and which choices are worth paying for? Start with the survey.
Heat Pumps and Solar Panels
Hot-water schedules, batteries and when exporting solar makes more sense than using it yourself.
Heat Pump Running Costs
Gas, oil, LPG, electric and storage heating compared, with the prices, tariff hours and calculations behind the figures.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme: grants and eligibility
Which schemes apply, who can qualify and how an installer handles the application.
Grant deadlines and scheme changes
The difference between the scheme’s end date and time-limited changes to grant amounts.
Electricity VAT and heat-pump bills
How a change in electricity VAT affects heating costs, with dated calculations and assumptions.
Your home
Radiators, hot water and system design
This is where we look at the equipment already in your home. The useful question is what each proposed change will achieve.
Which radiators need replacing?
Existing radiator output, selective upgrades and the benefit of each proposed change.
Underfloor heating or radiators?
Compare new builds, extensions and existing homes, including systems that use both.
Should I Install Underfloor Heating Upstairs?
Why upstairs underfloor heating is a luxury rather than a heat-pump requirement, and when the extra work is worth it.
Choosing a hot-water cylinder
Compare keeping your cylinder, a standard heat-pump cylinder, the Super Cylinder and the Mini Store.
What Size Heat Pump Do I Need?
Heat loss, cold-weather output and minimum modulation. Why bigger is not always better, and how heating zones affect sizing.
Zero Disrupt Heat Pump Design
How Heat Geek Zero Disrupt helps us survey homes, check radiators and design with less guesswork.
Before the work starts
Surveys, installers and installation
Find out what happens on a survey, what to ask an installer and how the job moves from a proposal to handover. There are separate preparation guides for direct and Heat Geek bookings.
Heat Pump Installation: What to Expect
From the survey to commissioning and handover: time on site, heating and hot-water interruptions, and preparing your home.
Your Heat Pump Survey: What to Expect
Booked with Vector Heat? What Liam needs to see, the questions he will ask and how to prepare for the visit.
Your Heat Geek Heat Pump Survey
Getting ready for your Design Consultation: room scans, radiator checks, hot water and the choices we will discuss.
What Is a Heat Geek?
Heat Geek training, qualifications and heating-system design, plus how to book Vector Heat for advice or an installation.
What Does MCS Certification Mean?
Why MCS certification matters for heat pump grants, consumer protection and installer standards.
How to Pick a Heating Engineer for a New Build
Seven checks covering design, experience, quotations, installation stages and handover before you appoint an engineer.
New homes and heating standards
Our guide to the Future Homes Standard and what it means for new-build heating decisions.
Already have a heat pump?
Controls, efficiency and aftercare
Start with the everyday controls and servicing guides. The Samsung fault articles go further into diagnosis and include technical information for engineers.
Heat Pump Controls
Thermostats, weather compensation, room influence and schedules for comfortable heating.
Vaillant outdoor switch-off temperature
Start at 17°C, check the sensor position and tune for your home. How solar gain and sensoCOMFORT room settings affect the result.
Do Heat Pumps Work in Cold Weather?
Winter design temperatures, defrost, heating schedules and what to check if your home is not reaching temperature.
Vaillant Heat Pump Controls Guide
Beginner and advanced guides to myVAILLANT and sensoCOMFORT, covering schedules, hot water, Room Temp Mod and heat curves.
Heat Pump Efficiency: COP, SCOP and SPF
How efficiency is measured and how flow temperature, emitters, controls and commissioning affect real performance.
What happens during a heat-pump service?
Outdoor-unit checks, water quality, controls and running data, plus what to tell us before a visit.
Heat Pumps Are Not the Problem
Why poor design, weak commissioning and bad system setup cause most underperforming heat pumps.
Samsung E911: low water flow
What the fault means and the circulation checks involved in diagnosing it.
Samsung E912: pump operation
An engineer’s guide to fixed-speed and PWM pump wiring, with a real installation example.
For a closer look
Product guides and original manuals
For readers comparing specific equipment and engineers checking the detail. These guides bring the relevant manuals, dimensions and model differences together.
Samsung Heat Pump: When I Recommend the 16kW
A real design example covering single-phase output, radiators, cylinders and aftercare.
Vaillant aroTHERM Pro vs Plus
Outputs, equipment, noise and dimensions compared using the original UK manuals.
Vaillant Plus 2026 clearances
Working space, dimensions and protection zones, with official diagrams.
Vaillant uniSTOR Pure vs Plus
Installation manuals, cylinder sizes, model suffixes and original connection drawings for engineers.
Heat Geek Super Cylinder
Manuals, model sizes, coil choices and original installation drawings.
Heat Geek Mini Store
Manuals, dimensions, installation photos and experience of using compact hot-water storage.
Real projects
See how it worked in someone’s home
Different starting points call for different designs. These projects show the decisions behind the installation, including putting an existing system right.
Oil to Vaillant, solar and battery
A Lincolnshire project combining a heat pump, underfloor heating, solar panels and battery storage.
Back Boiler to Air Source Heat Pump
A Lincolnshire customer story about replacing an old back boiler with a designed heat pump system.
Storage Heaters to Heat Pump with Grant
A Langworth home moved from old electric storage heaters to a designed air source heat pump.
Fixing A Faulty Heat Pump Installation
How poor heat pump installations can be corrected with proper design and commissioning.
Ready to talk about your home?
Tell us about your current heating and what you want to change. We can help you work out the next step, from an installation enquiry to support for an existing heat pump.
Still comparing heating options? Explore our boiler guides, or browse all Insights.