Is there a grant for
air conditioning?
Since 2026, yes, and almost every page you will find on this says otherwise. It is 2,500 pounds, not the 7,500 people mean, and the conditions are narrower than anyone selling it to you will admit.
- The amount is from GOV.UK, quoted directly
- What is uncertain is said plainly rather than glossed
- We will not put a grant in a quote until it is confirmed
Brands we work with
There is a grant for air conditioning in the UK. GOV.UK's Boiler Upgrade Scheme lists 2,500 pounds towards an air-to-air heat pump, which is what an air conditioner is. It is not the 7,500 pound grant, which is for an air-to-water heat pump that heats radiators and hot water and does not cool.
Four other pages on this site said otherwise until 6 September 2026, and most of the internet still does. Here is what is actually verified and what is not.
What the Boiler Upgrade Scheme actually pays
These are the four figures listed on the GOV.UK page, quoted as they appear there.
| What you install | Grant | Does it cool? |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pump (air to water) | £7,500 | No |
| Ground source heat pump | £7,500 | No |
| Biomass boiler | £5,000 | No |
| Air-to-air heat pump, ie air conditioning | £2,500 | Yes |
An extra 1,500 pounds is available until March 2027 on an air source or ground source heat pump where the property uses oil or LPG and has no mains gas connection. That uplift is on the air-to-water figure, not on the air-to-air one.
What is verified, and what we are not going to pretend about
Verified. The amount. It is on GOV.UK's own "what you can get" page, alongside the other three, and it was checked on 6 September 2026.
Not verified, and this matters. Exactly which existing heating system has to be replaced. One specialist source says the air-to-air grant is ring-fenced to homes replacing direct electric heating such as storage heaters, and specifically not gas, oil or LPG boilers. E.ON Next describes it as being for replacing fossil fuel heating. GOV.UK's own eligibility page lists "oil, gas, electric or LPG" together as the systems being replaced. Those three readings are not the same and they lead to very different answers for a normal London house on mains gas.
Also reported, and worth knowing before you count on anything. That few or no air-to-air products appeared on the MCS product directory in mid-2026. A grant that requires an MCS certified installation of an MCS certified product cannot be claimed if the product list is empty, whatever the written rules say.
So the honest position is: the grant exists, it is 2,500 pounds, and whether you can actually get it is a question about your property and about the certification position on the day. We will check it and tell you either way.
What air conditioning still does not get
| Air conditioning | Air-to-water heat pump | |
|---|---|---|
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | £2,500, conditions apply | £7,500 |
| VAT on installation | 20% | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% |
| Heats hot water | No | Yes |
| Cools | Yes | No |
The 0 per cent rate on installing energy saving materials runs until 31 March 2027, after which it is due to return to 5 per cent unless the government extends it. Air conditioning is not on that list and is charged at 20 per cent either way.
Why almost everything you read says there is no grant
Because until 2026 there was not one. Air-to-air was excluded from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme from the start, and every guide, comparison site and installer page written before the change says so, confidently and correctly for its time.
Our own pages said it too, in four places, until this one was written. One of them told readers that anybody offering a grant on an air conditioning installation had misunderstood the scheme. That was a fair thing to write in 2025 and it is not true now.
It is worth saying because it tells you what to do with the next confident answer you read on this: check the date on it, and check GOV.UK. A government scheme is not a fact you learn once.
What we would do in your position
- Read the GOV.UK page yourself. It takes two minutes and it is the only source that is definitionally current. It is linked at the foot of this section.
- Work out which machine you actually want. If you want cooling, that is air-to-air and the 2,500 pound figure. If you want to stop using a boiler, that is air-to-water and the 7,500 pound one. Wanting both is common and there are systems that do both.
- Get the quote without the grant in it. Then treat the grant as a reduction if it is confirmed. A price that only works with a grant is a price that does not work.
- Ask us to check your position. No charge, and you get the answer whether or not you use us.
Since 2026 the Boiler Upgrade Scheme also lists 2,500 pounds towards an air-to-air heat pump, which is what an air conditioner is. It is not the same as the 7,500 pound grant for an air-to-water heat pump and the conditions are narrower: it depends on what is being replaced, on the property having a valid EPC, and on an MCS certified installation. We will check whether your property qualifies and tell you either way, and we will not put a grant in a quotation until it is confirmed. The current rules are on GOV.UK.
Related
Air conditioning or a heat pump
Same technology, two names, two grants, and only one of them cools. The full side by side.
CompareThe 7,500 pound route
Air-to-water heat pumps, the grant taken off your invoice, and 0 per cent VAT until March 2027.
Heat pumpsWhat it costs without any grant
Real 2026 London prices, with a calculator, so you can judge the job on its own merits.
CostsThe grant, question by question
Is there a government grant for air conditioning in the UK?
Yes, since 2026, and it is smaller than the one most people are thinking of. GOV.UK's Boiler Upgrade Scheme page lists 2,500 pounds towards an air-to-air heat pump, and an air-to-air heat pump is an air conditioner.
The 7,500 pound figure people usually mean is for an air-to-water heat pump, which heats radiators and hot water and does not cool. They are different grants for different machines.
How much is the air conditioning grant?
2,500 pounds, against 7,500 for an air source or ground source heat pump and 5,000 for a biomass boiler. Those four figures are all on the same GOV.UK page.
On a single room installation at 1,750 to 2,900 pounds that would be most of the job. That is exactly why the conditions matter and why nobody should count on it before it is confirmed for their property.
What are the conditions?
This is the part we will not pretend to be certain about. The grant is for replacing an existing heating system in an existing home, it needs a valid EPC, and it needs an MCS certified installation.
Beyond that, published sources disagree about exactly which heating system has to be replaced: one says it is limited to homes replacing direct electric heating such as storage heaters, another says fossil fuel systems, and GOV.UK's own eligibility page lists oil, gas, electric and LPG together. We would rather tell you that than pick the reading that suits us.
Can you get the grant for me?
Not until we can say yes honestly. There are two open questions: whether your specific property qualifies, and whether MCS certified air-to-air products are actually available to specify, because there were reports in mid-2026 that few or none were listed on the MCS product directory.
So the answer today is that we will check your position and tell you either way, and we will not put a grant in a quotation until it is confirmed. A quote that assumes a grant you turn out not to get is not a quote, it is a surprise.
Does air conditioning get 0 per cent VAT like heat pumps?
No. Air conditioning is charged at 20 per cent. The zero rate applies to installing energy saving materials, air-to-water heat pumps and solar among them, and air conditioning is not on that list.
The grant list and the VAT list are different lists, and being added to one did not add it to the other. The zero rate itself runs until 31 March 2027 and is then due to return to 5 per cent.
Which should I actually get?
It depends on whether you want cooling. An air-to-water heat pump takes over the heating and the hot water, gets 7,500 pounds and zero VAT, and does not cool. An air conditioner heats and cools individual rooms, gets 2,500 pounds subject to conditions, and is charged at 20 per cent VAT.
There is a full side-by-side on the comparison page, and the air-to-water route is on the heat pump page.
We will tell you where you stand
Whether the grant applies to your property, what the installation costs without it, and which of the two machines is actually the one you want. No charge, and you get the answer either way.
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