Octopus Energy, one of the UK’s largest heat pump installers, has today revealed data showing their customers prefer heat pumps to their old gas boilers. This data comes from the company’s own survey of 1,700 Octopus Energy heat pump customers, with polling undertaken from September 2023 to May 2025.
Among those surveyed, 94% said their heat pumps are as comfortable or more comfortable than their previous gas boilers, while 85% said they cost the same or less to run.
It comes as the UK government scraps previous planning rules that slowed down heat pump adoption, which has been viewed as some as a major step in making green home heating easier and cheaper for households across the country.
Previously, 41% of heat pump installations required planning permission due to a rule requiring units to be at least one metre from neighbouring properties – adding an average £347 in costs and up to 8 weeks of delays, according to Octopus Energy’s data analysis of 1,388 heat pump customers who had paid deposits and completed survey works (with data taken from March 2025).
While today’s planning update will make a big difference, one major hurdle remains: existing noise regulations. According to that same data analysis, around a third (35%) of installations still face delays because heat pumps must be quieter than 37dB at the nearest neighbour’s home – about the same volume as birdsong.
This is especially important as, according to the data recorded from Octopus Energy’s survey, 86% of households report that their heat pumps are as quiet or quieter than their noisy, gas-guzzling counterparts.
Raising the noise limit by just 1dB would halve the number of homes needing to go through planning, speeding up the transition to cleaner heating for many more homes.
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Chief Product Officer at Octopus Energy, says, “It’s great that the government has finally tackled one of the biggest hurdles to wider heat pump adoption, making it easier and cheaper for thousands more people to make the switch to green heating.
“Our customers tell us loud and clear that heat pumps are quiet, cosy, and affordable – and the data backs them up. But we’re still asking them to jump through hoops because of old-fashioned noise rules, even though heat pumps are quieter than fridges and sit outside.
“If we fix that last hurdle, we can get even more heat pumps into homes – cutting carbon, cutting costs, and cutting our reliance on gas for good.”
Octopus is ramping up its heat pump installations, with over 50,000 new enquiries in the last three months.
For more from Octopus Energy, click here.