Hertfordshire · Heat pump installation
Air Source Heat Pumps in Hay Street
Air source heat pumps in and around Hay Street, from the first look to the final check and a fixed price agreed before work begins.
- Questions about listed buildings or conservation areas
- Working out where a cylinder could go
- Choosing between air-to-water and air-to-air
Air source heat pumps in Hay Street
Air-to-air heat pumps can qualify for a £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, but only in some cases. It has to replace the fossil-fuel heating, cover the whole heating demand, be fitted by an MCS certified installer and be in a home, so an add-on next to a boiler is not eligible. Common call-outs are for choosing between air-to-water and air-to-air and ageing boilers that will need replacing, across hot water cylinders, radiator systems and air-to-water heat pumps.
Older and listed homes in villages like Hay Street need extra care, because permitted development doesn’t apply within the grounds of a listed building, so consent comes first.
Warranty periods vary by brand and by product. For instance, Daikin’s standard warranty on split air conditioning is 2 years, and its longer extensions apply to its air-to-water units only. Whatever the brand, the manufacturer’s terms are explained on your quote.
- Where
- Hay Street (SG11)
- Region
- Hertfordshire
- Approvals
- NICEIC approved, F-Gas certified, MCS
- Prices
- £8,000–£16,000 (0% VAT on homes), before the grant
- Enquiries
- Answered the same working day
- Quote
- Fixed, in writing
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 30 October 2026
Your questions about air source heat pumps in Hay Street
Is Hay Street within the area you cover?
We do. Villages and hamlets get the same service as the bigger towns. Visits to smaller places are planned so the engineer arrives with what the job needs.
Will a heat pump in Hay Street need planning permission?
It comes down to the building and the spot chosen for the outdoor unit. Historic England lists about 4 buildings and structures within half a mile of the centre of Hay Street. On a house, an air source heat pump can often go ahead under permitted development, with an outdoor unit of no more than 1.5 cubic metres and an installation that meets MCS 020(a), which includes a noise check. Those rights don’t reach the grounds of a listed building, and conservation areas rule out walls or roofs facing a road. If that might affect you, we ask the planning department at East Hertfordshire council, typically the authority for Hay Street.
Are my radiators big enough for a heat pump?
It depends on each radiator and the room it heats. Heat pumps run at lower flow temperatures, so radiators give out less heat so we check every radiator against the room’s heat loss.
Can I get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant?
Possibly. The scheme runs in England and Wales and pays £7,500 towards an eligible air-to-water or ground source heat pump, or £2,500 for an air-to-air system that meets stricter conditions. Until March 2027 there’s an extra £1,500 for air source or ground source heat pumps in homes on oil or LPG with no mains gas. We check your home against the rules at the survey.
When will I hear back?
We reply to enquiries the same working day. If it’s an emergency, ring the 24/7 line instead.
How much time does a heat pump install need?
A typical installation takes anything from a couple of days for air-to-air to the best part of a week for air-to-water with radiator changes. We plan the work so you’re without heating for as little time as possible, and we explain it in advance.
How much VAT is charged on a heat pump in a home?
For homes, 0% until 31 March 2027, under HMRC Notice 708/6 and 5% after that. For air-to-air systems, we confirm the VAT on your quote.
Heat pumps in Hay Street: local notes
The last census (2021) found about 67% of households in detached or semi-detached houses. Houses normally have space for an outdoor unit and a hot water cylinder.
Much Hadham Palace, roughly 4.7 miles south-east, is a reminder to check your home’s listing status: permitted development does not cover listed buildings.
Hay Street is about 7 miles north-west of Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire. Wherever you are in the SG11 postcode area, our engineers can take on air source heat pumps. 381 places in Hertfordshire are on our list, from busy centres to quieter spots. You can also see our page for London, about 29 miles away.
Our engineers cover all of the SG11 postcode area and the streets around it. We also cover the places around Hay Street: Braughing (1 mile south-east), Westmill (2 miles west), Aspenden (2 miles north-west), Great Hormead (2 miles north) and Buntingford (3 miles north-west). We also work in nearby towns such as Stevenage (9 miles west), Bishop's Stortford (7 miles south-east), Welwyn Garden City (12 miles south-west) and Hitchin (13 miles west).
What’s near Hay Street
In Hay Street, that means homes and buildings near Adam And Eve Public House and the streets around them. Well-known places in the area include Brent Pelham (3.7 miles north-east).
The process
Where something has to be switched off during the work, we agree it with you first so it does not catch you out. For businesses, we can typically work room by room or zone by zone. On site, it takes a few days on site, depending on the cylinder, the radiators and the pipework involved. If a lane or gateway near Hay Street is tight for a van, let us know and we will plan for it.
- We start with your plans and the property.
- The survey checks heat loss, emitters, hot water and the outdoor unit position.
- We explain which type of heat pump suits the home and whether a grant could apply.
- Installation follows on the agreed dates.
- The job ends with commissioning, the MCS certificate and a walk through the controls.
How to prepare
- Make sure someone can let us in at the agreed time
- Tell us about access, such as roof hatches, high walls or locked plant areas
- Let us know where we can park and unload
Getting a price
Every quote starts with a look at the job, either on a site survey or, for simple jobs, from your pictures and details. After that, we send a fixed price so you know the cost before we begin.
Related advice
Nearby places to Hay Street
What else we do in Hay Street
Safe owner checks
Do not move, re-route or disconnect units or pipework yourself. Disconnecting a system means dealing with refrigerant, which only a qualified engineer can do, and the electrical side needs a competent person. Ask us to quote for a move instead.
Never try to top up, release or handle refrigerant yourself. The law requires anyone working on equipment containing F gas to hold the right qualifications, and the company to be certified, and refrigerant lines can cause cold burns. If you suspect a leak, switch the system off and call us.
When to call us in Hay Street
Homes off the gas grid, heated by oil or LPG, are often good candidates to look at. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme includes an extra £1,500, until March 2027, for air source or ground source heat pumps in homes heated by oil or LPG with no mains gas where the home is eligible.
Reasons to give us a call include:
- Plans to switch to electric heating with a heat pump
- Deciding on the outdoor unit position
- An oil, LPG or gas boiler near the end of its life
If your home is one of the older properties near Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, the survey checks whether it’s listed or in a conservation area before the outdoor unit position is chosen.
Comparing quotes
- What paperwork you will receive afterwards
- Which brand and model they’re proposing, and why
- How VAT is shown, and which rate applies
System by system
VAT on heat pumps
This is general information, not tax advice.
Air-to-water heat pumps
Air-to-water systems take heat from the air and put it into your central heating and hot water. It replaces the boiler as the main heat source and we install it to MCS standards.
What a customer said
“Office air con broke down in the July heatwave. Called at 8am, engineer was here by noon and fixed within 2 hours. Brilliant emergency response. They now hold the service contract for the whole building.”
James T., Crawley, office manager