Compare your heating + solar options in 2026

Pick the comparison that matches your home today

Each guide below answers the same five questions for one specific switch — how much it costs to install, what you pay after the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, what running costs look like in 2026, how the carbon stacks up, and when the alternative still makes sense.

• Most UK homes on mains gas

  Heat pump vs gas boiler

  Highest-volume UK comparison. £7,500 BUS grant maths against modern combi boiler running costs.

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• ~1.1M UK homes on heating oil

  Heat pump vs oil boiler

  Off-gas-grid switching guide. Bigger running-cost saving than mains gas; tank-removal logistics covered.

  Read the comparison

• ~150k UK homes on LPG

  Heat pump vs LPG boiler

  Sharpest running-cost saving of the three fossil fuels. Tank-lease + supply-contract unwind under the 2018 CMA Order.

  Read the comparison

• ~500k UK homes on direct electric

  Heat pump vs electric boiler

  Same fuel (grid electricity), very different efficiency. Heat pump delivers 3.5× the heat per kWh; switching saves £600–£1,200/year on a typical UK home.

  Read the comparison

• ~700k UK homes on Economy 7

  Heat pump vs night storage heaters

  Storage heaters run on cheap Economy 7 overnight electricity but the heat is gone by evening. Heat pump on a time-of-use tariff matches the cost story + delivers heat on demand.

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• Choosing your heat pump type

  Air source vs ground source heat pump

  Both qualify for the same £7,500 BUS grant; air-source suits 95% of UK homes. When ground source actually pays back.

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• Hybrid quote? Read this first

  Hybrid vs full heat pump

  BUS grant excludes hybrid installs since 2023. Full heat pump usually wins on cost, carbon, and complexity — narrow niche for hybrids remains.

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• Considering rooftop solar PV

  Solar panels vs no solar

  20-year cashflow on a 4 kW UK install. Payback in 7–11 years on most south-facing roofs. SEG tariff selection matters.

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• Spec'ing your solar system

  Solar + battery vs solar alone

  Adding a 5–10 kWh battery costs £3,500–£6,500. Pays back in 9–13 years; faster (5–8) on smart tariffs or with heat pump / EV load.

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• Picking a heat pump brand

  Daikin vs Mitsubishi heat pump

  Side-by-side spec comparison of Daikin Altherma and Mitsubishi Ecodan ranges in the UK. SCOP, sound, warranty, controls — published data only.

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• Picking a heat pump brand

  Vaillant vs Daikin heat pump

  Vaillant aroTHERM plus runs R290 propane (lowest-GWP refrigerant); Daikin Altherma 3 R runs R32. Spec comparison from published UK product data.

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• Picking a heat pump brand

  Vaillant vs Mitsubishi heat pump

  Top-3 UK brand comparison. R290 propane vs R32 refrigerant, sound-power gap (~3-4 dB(A) lower for Vaillant), installer-footprint differences.

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• Spec'ing your heat pump install

  Underfloor heating vs radiators (heat pumps)

  Install-time decision: UFH (£6-£15k retrofit) vs upgraded radiators (£1.5-£5.5k). SCOP advantage to UFH but rarely pays back on running cost alone.

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• Solar buyers considering both

  Solar PV vs solar thermal

  Electricity vs hot water. PV almost always wins on 2026 UK economics — RHI closed 2022, PV prices fell, heat pumps + PV pair natively. Niche thermal use cases remain.

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• Picking a heat pump brand

  Samsung vs LG heat pump

  Korean-brand pair, typically 5–10% below Daikin / Mitsubishi pricing. R32 across both; LG has an R290 variant from late 2024.

  Read the comparison

• Tuning your heat-pump running cost

  Heat pump electricity tariffs UK 2026

  Octopus Cosy vs British Gas Heat Pump Plus vs EDF GoElectric vs E.ON Next Heat Pump. £200–£400/yr saving vs standard variable.

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• Heat pump type decision

  Air-to-air vs air-to-water heat pump

  Only air-to-water qualifies for the £7,500 BUS grant. Air-to-air is cheaper pre-grant but can't heat hot water — narrow niche only.

  Read the comparison

• Buying new vs upgrading existing

  New build vs retrofit heat pump

  Future Homes Standard 2025 made heat pumps standard in English new builds. Retrofit gets the £7,500 BUS grant; new build doesn't (it's mandatory).

  Read the comparison

• Paying for the heat pump

  Heat pump finance options UK 2026

  Five paths for the £1,500–£6,500 net cost after BUS: cash, 0% installer finance, green mortgage, secured loan, heat-pump-as-a-service.

  Read the comparison

Not sure which one applies?

Start with what currently heats your home: mains gas (most urban UK homes), heating oil or LPG (rural off-gas-grid), or direct electric / storage heaters. If you’re considering solar PV separately from heating, the solar-vs-no-solar guide answers that on its own. The free pre-survey at propertoasty.com/check gives you the specific verdict for your property in 5 minutes.

What’s coming next

Brand-specific comparisons (Daikin vs Mitsubishi, Vaillant vs Samsung) and product-type comparisons (hybrid vs full heat pump, solar + battery vs solar alone) are next on the roadmap. We sequence fuel-type switches first because they cover the largest UK audience and the decision is more binary; brand comparisons matter once you’ve already decided to switch.