Cost guide · Heat pump · SEAI prices Jan–Jun 2026 · grants read 10 Oct 2026
A heat pump for a semi-detached house costs about €16,700 before the grant
SEAI's median heat pump job on a semi-detached house cost €16,741 in January to June 2026 (SEAI median costs). The middle half of installed prices we found ran €12,300 to €18,700. SEAI pays up to €14,500, so about €2,200 is left when an old boiler comes out. Radiators, the cylinder and the size move the price most.
The outdoor unit of an air-to-water heat pump. Photographed in Germany; the kind fitted in Irish homes.
Wärmepumpe Außeneinheit (air-to-water heat pump outdoor unit) · Mueller felix · CC BY-SA 4.0
See your grants for a heat pump, and what you’d pay
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€16,741
SEAI's median price, semi-detached house
SEAI median costs · Jan–Jun 2026 · read 10 Oct 2026
Published figure€12,300–€18,700
Middle half of installed prices we found
11 prices from installers, forums, the press · read to 26 Sep 2026
Our reading€2,241
Left after the full €14,500 grant, semi-detached
€16,741 − €14,500 · SEAI heat pump page read 10 Oct 2026
Published figure+14%
Rise in SEAI's median since 2023
€14,630 → €16,741 · to Dec 2023 → H1 2026
Published figureUpdated · grants checked · prices SEAI H1 2026 · How we know · Corrections
Where this sits · the heat chain
The heating only puts back what the house loses. A heat pump works best when the house loses less.
- Fabricwalls, roof, floor, windows
- Airdraughts and ventilation
- Heatheat pump or boiler, radiators, controls
- Usebills, comfort, the BER
- The idea behind itFabric first: the heat-loss line
- You are hereWhat a heat pump costs
- Next questionHow much does SEAI pay towards it?
What a heat pump job costs, by type of home
SEAI's median price for the whole job, from grant claims, January to June 2026. Published figure
A house costs €16,000 to €17,000 to fit with a heat pump; an apartment about €9,000
The full grant leaves €2,241 of SEAI’s median price for a semi-detached house, or €4,241 without the boiler scrappage part.
| Home | SEAI median price | Most the grant pays | Left to pay | Without scrappage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | €17,000 | €14,500 | €2,500 | €4,500 |
| Semi-detached | €16,741 | €14,500 | €2,241 | €4,241 |
| Mid-terrace | €16,000 | €14,500 | €1,500 | €3,500 |
| Apartment | €9,025 | €11,500 | Check first | Check first |
Each price is SEAI's median for a heat pump job on that kind of home, from the costs registered contractors submitted when the grant was paid, January to June 2026. The grant is the most SEAI pays: up to €10,500 for the heat pump, €2,000 for radiators and pipework the design needs, and €2,000 when an oil, gas, solid-fuel or storage-heater system comes out. A median is a middle price, not your quote.
Sources: SEAI, Median costs of individual energy upgrades, Jan–Jun 2026, 10 Oct 2026 · SEAI heat pump systems page, 10 Oct 2026
Check first: apartments. SEAI's apartment grant (up to €11,500) is more than its median apartment job (€9,025), and SEAI won't pay more than the work costs. Ask SEAI how the grant is capped before you count on a figure.
The grant can't be more than the job. SEAI rule
you cannot receive a grant which exceeds the total cost of works.
SEAI heat pump systems page, 10 Oct 2026
The last €2,000 depends on what comes out. SEAI rule
A €2,000 Boiler Scrappage grant where an oil or gas boiler, or an electric storage system, or solid fuel system is being removed. The grant is also paid Homeowners without central heating where a heat pump is being installed.
SEAI heat pump systems page, 10 Oct 2026
What moves the price
What installers, forums and the press published, read up to 26 September 2026. Our reading
The middle half of installed prices runs €12,300 to €18,700
SEAI’s median for a semi-detached house, €16,741, sits inside it. Quotes that leave out radiators look cheaper.
The bars are 11 installed prices for a whole heat pump job published by installers, One Stop Shops, homeowners on forums and the press, 2023 to 2026. Guide and comparison sites are left out because they repeat each other. Some prices include new radiators and some don't; the highest is a ground-source system. SEAI's median comes from grant claims, so it is the better guide to a typical job.
EstimateThe spread is fixmyber's reading of 11 published prices, not SEAI's figure.
Sources: fixmyber price research, 720 sourced prices, read to 26 Sep 2026 · SEAI median costs, Jan–Jun 2026
The numbers
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Lowest | €9,250 |
| Quarter | €12,342 |
| Middle | €15,000 |
| Three quarters | €18,735 |
| Highest | €22,000 |
What changes a heat pump quote
| What | Why it moves the price | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Radiators and pipework | A heat pump runs cooler water, so some radiators get bigger. SEAI pays up to €2,000 towards them. | €2,300–€5,100 where priced on their own line (4 quotes) |
| The unit and cylinder | Bigger houses that lose heat faster need a bigger pump and often a bigger hot water cylinder. | €2,300–€13,600 supply only (18 prices); half under €6,900 |
| The heat-loss check | Homes built before 2007 need one before applying, unless a BER already shows the house holds its heat. | €500 SEAI median (2024); grant €200 |
| VAT | One business supplying and fitting the whole system charges 9%. | Revenue, from 1 Jan 2025 |
fixmyber price research, read to 26 Sep 2026 · SEAI Retrofit Full Year Report 2024 · Revenue
Insulating first can mean a smaller, cheaper heat pump. SEAI rule
Improvements in the energy performance of the dwelling (see S.R. 50-4 Clause 5.2.4) will reduce the design heat loss and therefore the capacity of the heat pump system required.
SEAI Domestic Technical Standards and Specifications, 10 Oct 2026
Running it: a unit of heat from a heat pump costs about 9.8c, against 18.0c from oil. What a heat pump costs to run
The price rose 15% by early 2025, then held
SEAI's median for a semi-detached house in four editions of its table. Published figure
SEAI's median heat pump job went from €14,630 to €16,741
It was €16,833 in early 2025 and has hardly moved since, though the grant rose twice in 2026.
Each bar is SEAI's median price for a heat pump job on a semi-detached or end-of-terrace house, in one edition of its median-cost table. Three editions were read from the Internet Archive and the newest from SEAI directly. The grant for a house rose to €12,500 on 3 February 2026 and to €14,500 on 29 September 2026.
Sources: SEAI, Median costs of individual energy upgrades: editions to Dec 2023, H1 2025 and FY 2025 via the Internet Archive; H1 2026 direct, read 10 Oct 2026
The numbers
| Edition | Median, semi-detached |
|---|---|
| to Dec 2023 | €14,630 |
| H1 2025 | €16,833 |
| FY 2025 | €16,832 |
| H1 2026 | €16,741 |
Questions people ask
- How much is a heat pump after the grant?
- On SEAI's median prices, about €2,200 for a semi-detached house when an oil, gas, solid-fuel or storage-heater system comes out and the full €14,500 is paid. Without the €2,000 boiler scrappage part, about €4,200.
- Do I need new radiators for a heat pump?
- Often some. SEAI pays up to €2,000 towards radiators and pipework the design needs. Where installers priced them on their own line, they came to €2,300–€5,100.
- Is there VAT on a heat pump?
- Yes, 9%, when one business supplies and fits the whole system. That is Revenue's rule since 1 January 2025. SEAI's homeowner guide still says zero; Revenue sets the rate.
- Do I need a technical assessment first?
- Homes built before 2007 do, unless a valid BER shows a heat loss figure of 2.3 or less. SEAI's median price for one was €500 in 2024, and SEAI pays €200 of it.
How we know
- Prices: SEAI's median costs of individual energy upgrades, January to June 2026, from 23,412 grant-aided jobs, read 10 Oct 2026. A median is a middle price, not a quote.
- The spread: 11 installed prices published by installers, One Stop Shops, forums and the press, each saved with its quote. The range is our reading, not SEAI's.
- Grants: SEAI's heat pump systems page, read 10 Oct 2026, quoted word for word and checked against our saved copy.
- VAT: Revenue's guidance on heat pump heating systems, read 10 Oct 2026; the 9% is the Department of Finance's Tax Strategy Group paper of July 2026.
Sources
SEAI median costs, Jan–Jun 2026, 10 Oct 2026 · SEAI heat pump systems, 10 Oct 2026 · Revenue, VAT on heat pumps, 10 Oct 2026 · SEAI Retrofit Full Year Report 2024, 10 Oct 2026
Found a mistake? Every fix is dated on Corrections. Method in full: How we know.
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Updated · grants checked · prices SEAI H1 2026 · How we know · Corrections