Heat Pump Directory Ireland

How to choose the right heat pump for your Irish home

Choosing a heat pump in Ireland involves three key decisions: which type suits your home, whether your existing radiators are compatible, and what size your home actually needs. Get these right and a heat pump is transformative — cutting heating bills by 50–70% compared to oil or gas, while slashing your home's carbon emissions. Get them wrong and you'll either underperform on comfort or overspend unnecessarily.

Air-to-water vs air-to-air — which is right for you?

Air-to-water heat pumps are the dominant type in Ireland for whole-home heating. They extract heat from outdoor air and transfer it to a water-based heating circuit — the same circuit that your radiators, underfloor heating, and hot water cylinder are connected to. This is a direct replacement for your gas or oil boiler, and it qualifies for the SEAI grant of up to €12,500. Almost all 15 air-to-water models in this directory can replace an existing boiler entirely.

Air-to-air heat pumps extract heat from outdoor air and deliver it directly as warm air into a room — with no water circuit and no hot water production. They are faster and cheaper to install, and provide cooling in summer as well as heating in winter. However, they do not qualify for the SEAI heat pump grant and cannot replace a boiler for domestic hot water. They are ideal for apartments, home offices, extensions, or supplemental heating in specific rooms.

Will a heat pump work with my existing radiators?

This is the most common concern for Irish homeowners considering retrofitting a heat pump. The short answer is: it depends on the heat pump model and the size of your radiators. Standard heat pumps operate most efficiently at lower flow temperatures (35–45°C), whereas conventional gas and oil boilers typically run at 70–80°C. Older homes with undersized radiators may struggle to deliver enough heat at lower flow temperatures.

However, several models in this directory address this directly. The Daikin Altherma 3 H HT and Vaillant aroTHERM Plus can deliver water at up to 70–75°C — matching boiler temperatures and working with virtually any existing Irish radiator system without modification. The Grant Aerona4 and Worcester Bosch Greenstar operate at 65°C, suitable for most modern radiators and any system that has been even slightly oversized. Your installer will carry out a heat loss calculation and radiator assessment to confirm compatibility — every card in this directory displays the maximum flow temperature to make comparison easy.

What size heat pump does an Irish home need?

Heat pump sizing in Ireland is governed by a heat loss calculation (also called a heat demand survey), which must be carried out before installation for SEAI grant eligibility. For reference, typical Irish homes fall into these rough bands:

• Apartments and small houses (under 100 m²): 5–7 kW heat pump — the 7 kW Vaillant, Bosch and Stiebel Eltron models in this directory
• Semi-detached homes (100–150 m²): 7–9 kW — the Samsung EHS, Mitsubishi Ecodan 8 kW and Panasonic T-CAP 9 kW
• Larger detached homes (150–200 m²): 9–12 kW — the Daikin HT 11 kW, Hitachi Yutaki 11 kW and Grant Aerona4 10 kW
• Very large homes (over 200 m²) and light commercial: 14–20 kW — the commercial section of this directory

These are rough guides only. A home's actual heat demand depends on insulation level, window quality, orientation and age — not just floor area. A BER assessor or heat pump installer will carry out the formal calculation. The SEAI grant requires your home to have a Heat Loss Indicator (HLI) of ≤2 W/m² — if your home doesn't qualify yet, insulation grants under the Better Energy Homes scheme can help you reach that threshold first.

How much does a heat pump save on energy bills in Ireland?

A typical Irish oil-heated home spends €1,800–€2,400 per year on heating oil (based on 1,800–2,400 litres at ~€1.00/litre in 2026). Converting to an air-to-water heat pump with a SCOP of 4.0 and running on a standard electricity tariff of €0.27/kWh, the equivalent heating cost drops to approximately €650–€900 per year — a saving of €1,000–€1,500 annually. If you also have solar panels generating daytime electricity, the heat pump's running cost drops further — to as low as €300–€500 per year for a well-insulated home. The SEAI grant of up to €12,500 (from 3 Feb 2026) brings the typical payback period to under 3 years on an oil conversion.

The Irish brand — Grant Engineering Aerona4

The Grant Aerona4 holds a unique position in the Irish heat pump market as the only major brand manufactured in Ireland. Grant Engineering has been making heating equipment in Birr, Co. Offaly since 1979 — originally producing oil boilers — and the Aerona4 brings that heritage of Irish-climate engineering to the heat pump era. With over 600 SEAI-registered installers nationwide, including extensive coverage in rural areas that international brands may not reach, the Aerona4 is often the practical choice for rural Irish homeowners who need a local installer within driving distance for servicing.

Pairing a heat pump with solar panels in Ireland

The combination of an air-to-water heat pump and a rooftop solar PV system is the most powerful step an Irish homeowner can take toward energy independence. A 4 kWp solar system generates approximately 3,600 kWh per year in Ireland. An air-to-water heat pump with a SCOP of 4.0 delivering 12,000 kWh of heat annually consumes approximately 3,000 kWh of electricity — meaning a 4 kWp solar system can, in theory, cover the entire electrical running cost of the heat pump during daytime hours. In practice, daytime solar generation and nighttime heat pump operation don't perfectly overlap — but with a home battery storing surplus daytime solar for evening heat pump use, Irish homeowners are regularly achieving 60–80% solar coverage of their heat pump running costs. See the Solar Panel Directory for all 13 panels available in Ireland with SEAI Solar PV grant guidance.