Anne's Aira Heat Pump installation
Property details:
- Victorian cottage
- 2-storey, 4-bedroom
Anne and her family moved into an off-grid Victorian cottage in rural Wales in January 2026. The oil boiler was only four years old, but undersized radiators left their new home “shockingly” cold.
Anne started looking into heat pumps and discovered that the £9,000 government funding could make replacing her oil boiler far more affordable. That’s when she called Aira.
The installation at a glance
Location: Rural Wales
What we installed:
- Aira Heat Pump (8kW)
- Aira Indoor Unit Compact
- 200L hot water cylinder
- Buffer tank (40L)
- Aira Thermostat
- All radiators upgraded, including two triple radiators
Government grant available: Boiler Upgrade Scheme (£9,000)
The challenge
Anne and her family moved into their Victorian cottage in rural Wales in January 2026. The oil boiler was only four years old, but undersized radiators left the house “shockingly” cold. With no mains gas and a kitchen that struggled to reach 14°C, something had to change.
Replacing the radiators alone wouldn’t solve the bigger problem. Anne wanted to move away from oil altogether, avoiding its changing prices, strong smell and reliance on fossil fuels. With the Boiler Upgrade Scheme offering £9,000 towards the switch, a heat pump suddenly made financial sense too.
Space was tight, with only a narrow side garden beside a busy road. How the system looked mattered as well. Anne needed a heat pump compact enough to fit the available space, smart enough to suit her Victorian home and powerful enough to keep every room cosy.
Our solution
After an initial phone consultation, one of our Clean Energy Experts visited Anne’s cottage for a free home energy assessment. We confirmed that a heat pump would work in her older, off-grid home and found the right place for every part of the system. Even with only a narrow side garden to work with.
We handled Anne’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme application and deducted the £9,000 grant from her quote, making the move away from oil much more affordable.
Our designers created a system around the cottage, including an Aira Heat Pump (8kW), Compact Indoor Unit (200L) and buffer tank (40L). Every radiator was upgraded too, including two triple radiators, so each room could get the warmth it needed.
Just three weeks after her home energy assessment, Anne’s installation began. Our technicians completed the whole switch in three days, leaving her with cleaner heating, no more oil deliveries and a home ready to stay cosy throughout the Welsh winter.
Anne's verdict
“When the price of oil suddenly doubled, I thought, ‘Well, this is just bonkers.’ I absolutely hate the idea of burning oil anyway, so I started looking into heat pumps.
The £9,000 grant made the upfront cost feel far more manageable. Getting that extra £1,500 towards replacing an oil boiler was significant.
The Aira Heat Pump is neat-looking. Some of the big white units I’d seen were ugly – and even though ours is tucked away, the way it looks still matters.
Everything moved much faster than I expected. Our installation date was only three weeks away, and I thought we’d be waiting months. The installation itself was incredibly pain-free. The team cleared everything up and left everything tidy.
We haven’t had a full winter with it yet, but we’re looking forward to not walking around shivering, putting on loads of extra layers or carrying a hot-water bottle everywhere.
If you’re considering a heat pump, go for it. We’ve all got to do it eventually, haven’t we? We need alternative ways to heat our homes."
Another happy customer
Roger & Sue, Kilmarnock
“Our first winter with an Aira Heat Pump was a joy. We’ve now got a consistent indoor temperature, and we saved around 50% on our energy bills in January and February compared to last year.”
John & Helen, Ayrshire
“We came across an article in The Guardian about Aira. And we thought, if a heat pump can keep a Swedish home warm, it can definitely do the same for our home in Scotland. And it does.”
Tony, Dumbarton
“I’m really happy with the result. If I compare winter 2023, before my switch, with winter 2024, I saved about 20% on my energy bills.”