How heating engineers can make the switch with HPIN
You’re a skilled gas engineer, and your diary is full, but you’ve seen the headlines and heard the talk at the merchant counter: more and more customers are asking about heat pumps.
While the gas boiler isn’t disappearing overnight, the single biggest growth area, and profit opportunity, for the next 20 years will be in air source heat pumps. This isn’t about chasing a trend; it’s about future proofing your business.
To meet its targets, the UK government is aiming for 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028, creating massive demand for qualified installers like you. This presents a huge opportunity for gas engineers to start their heat pump journey. The good news is that your core skills in wet heating systems, pipework, and customer service provide the perfect foundation. You’re not starting from scratch; you’re adding a high-value specialism that will futureproof your business for years to come.
This guide provides a clear, step-by-step roadmap for making the transition, including how HPIN can save on your training costs and give you access to MCS certification without the costs.
Why your next customer will ask for a heat pump
One of the biggest reasons there is so much interest in heat pumps is the government’s flagship Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). The grant gives eligible homeowners £7,500 towards the cost of their air source heat pump. For a homeowner on the fence, that grant makes a high-value heat pump installation more appealing than a straightforward boiler swap.
When a homeowner calls wanting a heat pump, you want to be the one quoting for, and getting the job, not another installer down the road. HPIN is your route to selling and installing heat pumps from day one.
Heat pump benefits for your customers
Selling a heat pump to your customers is easier when you can talk about the benefits. Talk to your customers about:
- Efficiencies – Air source heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways of heating your home. They generate up to three times the amount of heat compared to a traditional G rated gas boiler. This makes them up to 300% more efficient in comparison and one of the most energy-efficient heating systems.
- Heat Pump tariffs – Customers would make further savings with the heat pump by switching to a dedicated heat pump tariff such as the one offered by our colleagues at EDF
- Other energy saving measures – Installing other measures such as solar PV and storage batteries could also help reduce energy costs.
- Government grants – Eligible householders could get £7,500 towards the cost of their air source heat pump thanks to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Installing your own heat pump with HPIN+
If you sign up to HPIN and fully onboard with us as a certified HPIN installer, you could qualify for our HPIN+ scheme where you can install a heat pump in your own home for free. We do ask that you own your own home and that have completed our heat pump training and been fully onboarded. You can find out more about HPIN+ here
The qualifications you need to install heat pumps
Your existing skills as a heating engineer are the perfect foundation for retraining from gas to renewables. The path to getting qualified is a logical add-on, not a complete career change. Much of your existing knowledge, especially around system hydraulics and customer service, is directly transferable.
To get on the tools and start fitting heat pumps, you’ll need a few key qualifications, some of which you may already hold. This is your core checklist:
- G3 Unvented Qualification Certificate: Essential, as almost all heat pump systems are paired with an unvented cylinder.
- NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Heating/Plumbing: This is the main training course, typically from providers like BPEC or City & Guilds. It covers all the basics you need to safely install heat pumps.
- Gas Safe Qualification: As a heating engineer you will most likely have this qualification already if you are installing gas boilers.
Finally, the most important step for your business is understanding MCS certification. Think of MCS (the Microgeneration Certification Scheme) as the benchmark in standards for installing air source heat pumps. It’s the quality mark that proves you install to a high standard, but as importantly, it’s the key that unlocks the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) grant for your customers. Without it, your customers can’t access the funding, making it a non-negotiable for anyone serious about installing heat pumps.
The biggest barrier for Installers looking to get MCS certified are their specific requirements and the associated costs. Installers wanting to be MCS certified will be assessed against MCS001 standard and the specific technical standard for the technology they wish to install. They must prove that they have the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to do all the tasks to meet and maintain the programme’s needs.
Next the installer needs to demonstrate the operation of a Quality Management System (QMS) to manage the quality of their installations. They also need to pay to join a Consumer Code such as RECC or HIES to show that they are committed to complying with a high standard of consumer service. The second to last step is joining a certification body such as NAPIT or Oftec which also has a fee to join. Finally, once this mountain of admin and paperwork has been done, the installer then has to pay their MCS fees.
Put together, a solo installer will be paying upwards of £1,000 a year out of their business just to be MCS certified. They’ll also have to make sure that they keep all their admin and paperwork that goes with it up to date to maintain the certification. It’s no surprise that this is a huge barrier to installers looking to make the transition into renewables and install air source heat pumps.
The biggest on the job shift
With a gas boiler, you can walk into a standard 3-bed semi and know a 24kW combi will do the job. You’re sizing for a powerful blast of high-temperature water (around 70°C) that can quickly overcome heat loss. A heat pump is a different beast entirely. It’s not a simple box-swap; you are designing a complete system that runs most efficiently at a much lower flow temperature, typically 45°C – 50°C. This single fact changes how you survey, specify, and install.
To deliver the same amount of comfortable warmth into a room using 45°C water instead of 70°C water, that heat needs to be emitted over a larger surface area. Think of it like trying to dry your hands: a small, scorching-hot hand dryer works fast, but a larger fan blowing lukewarm air can do the same job if it covers a bigger area. In heating terms, this means you could often be replacing existing single-panel radiators with larger K2 or K3 models.
This is where the job really differs. The quick ‘rule-of-thumb’ sizing you use for boilers won’t work. Getting a heat pump right demands a detailed, room-by-room heat loss calculation. You’ll be measuring window sizes, checking wall insulation, and calculating the precise heating requirement for each space to ensure the emitters you fit are correctly sized. It’s a more methodical, technical approach that leaves no room for guesswork but guarantees a system that performs efficiently.
The key difference in gas boilers vs heat pumps is the focus on whole-system design. This is where HPIN steps in to help. We will carry out the Technical Assessment and Design of the heat pump system so all you have to do is the install. If you do want to do the system design, you can become a HPIN Certified Installer and we’ll give you access and training on our design software Carno.
Your shortcut to getting certified: HPIN makes MCS simple
You’ve seen the qualifications and the MCS hurdle, and it’s natural to think, ‘Is all that time and paperwork worth it? I’ll just stick to boilers’ This is precisely where we at HPIN come in. We remove the two big barriers to installing heat pumps: cost and complexity. With HPIN you get access to the following from day one:
- Access to our FREE MCS umbrella scheme, HPIN Direct
- Simple heat pump bundle pricing
- Access to the boiler upgrade scheme grant
- Industry leading design software for your installs
- FREE account on our installer portal to manage your jobs
HPIN is your fast track to getting accThe real cost of retraining: a breakdown of your investment
A good quality air source heat pump course in the UK typically can cost anywhere between £700 to £1,200. When you then factor in MCS certification fees of approximately a thousand pounds a year on top. It’s a significant figure that installers may struggle to justify.
This is where the HPIN support becomes crucial. With access to free heat pump training the financial hit is softened considerably. Once trained, you don’t need to pay and wait for MCS accreditation, you can start installing heat pumps straight away.
Your first step: how to start your heat pump journey today
You now have a clearer view of how you can make the switch from gas boilers to heat pumps. It’s not about starting over, but about building on your existing expertise.
Becoming a certified heat pump installer means actively future proofing your business. You are getting ahead of the market, ready to secure higher-value jobs and becoming a trusted local expert for your customers.ess to MCS certified heat pump installations. A free to join network with all the information you need, saving you time, money and resources.