I spent £6.5k on electric heat pump for my home… here’s the cold truth about tech & my advice if you think of buying one

WHEN John Frost installed a £14,000 heat pump, he thought his energy problems were over – but three years on he’s fed up with it.

He forked out £6,500 of the cost himself but has to wait 45 minutes to run a lukewarm shower and has to boil the kettle to wash the dishes.

John, 64, gives a chilling warning to those considering a heat pump, after it emerged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband wants to encourage households to install them by artificially pushing down electricity bills.

And leaked Government proposals reveal gas users will have to subsidise lower bills with a £30 levy.

John, a plasterer, said: “I wanted to do the right thing, but with this Arctic freeze I’ve gone completely cold on the technology. My heat pump stores water at about 50C in a 180-litre tank, and it never feels hot.

“When my son stayed for Christmas he’d have a shower and drain the tank, so I had to wait 45 minutes for enough hot water for a seven-minute shower.

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“The pump prioritises efficiency over speed, but if someone’s showering, the washing machine’s on and I try to do the dishes, I end up boiling the kettle just to wash up.”

The divorced dad-of-two, from Falmouth, Cornwall, received a £7,500 Government grant to install the air-source heat pump in his three-bed bungalow in June 2022.

John is still paying off his £6,500 and hasn’t been able to afford proper loft insulation or to fill the cavity walls.

Labour billed heat pumps as more cost-efficient despite the fact they can cost £14,000 to install.

A new gas boiler, meanwhile, costs between £2,000 to £4,000.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, heat pumps are more energy-efficient than boilers because they move heat rather than create it.

But the same experts warn heat pumps work best in well-insulated homes.

Many British homes are old, draughty and designed around gas boilers, so require costly upgrades for the pumps to work properly.

Labour is falling well short of its own green heating deadline.

They set a target of 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028, but figures show just 58,000 were installed in the year ending September 2025.

Careers adviser Ashley Peace, 49, had considered getting a heat pump but she was shocked to discover it would cost £12,000 on top of the £7.5k government grant.

Ashley, who lives in York with husband Andrew, 42, an electrical tester, and their three children, is pleased she didn’t switch.

She says: “I looked at getting a heat pump as we have the cavity walls and loft insulation needed, but we couldn’t afford it.

“My boiler is brilliant. It takes barely 15 minutes to get the whole house to a cosy 21C. I’ve seen friends install heat pumps who now can’t sell their homes. Buyers were hesitant and confused, and viewings dried up.”