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Air conditioning and air source heat pumps use similar technology. Air conditioning units are usually room-based and mainly used for cooling, while heat pumps are designed to heat the whole home and hot water.
✓ The key differences
✓ Using air conditioning to heat
✓ Whether you need both
Tell us what you need and we will come back to you.
Room-based units for cooling, and often heating too.
A whole-home heating system, with hot water, often via radiators or underfloor heating.
Both move heat rather than creating it, which is why they can be efficient.
Both air conditioning and air source heat pumps work by moving heat from one place to another using a refrigerant, which is why they look alike and why many air conditioning units can both cool and heat. The difference lies in what they are designed to do.
Air conditioning delivers conditioned air directly into a room through an indoor unit. A heat pump heats water, which then circulates to radiators or underfloor heating and fills a hot water cylinder. One handles the comfort of individual rooms, the other runs the heating for a whole home.
Many units can heat a room efficiently, which is useful for extensions, offices and bedrooms, but they do not replace a whole-home heating system.
In a conservatory, a home office or a bedroom that is rarely warm enough, a unit that heats as well as cools can be a very sensible choice, and it avoids running new pipework to the room.
Air conditioning suits you if the main problem is rooms that overheat in summer, if you need heating for a single room or extension, or if you run a shop, office or treatment room where cooling matters. It is quick to install and can be added one room at a time.
It is not the right answer if you want to replace a boiler or oil heating. For that you need a system that supplies radiators, underfloor heating and hot water.
A heat pump suits you if you want to heat the whole home and its hot water from one source, particularly if you are leaving oil, LPG or an ageing boiler behind. It needs a suitable home, with decent insulation, appropriate radiators and space for a cylinder. Our guide to whether a heat pump is right for your home explains how to check.
Not always, but some households choose both: a heat pump for the main heating and hot water, and air conditioning in the rooms that overheat in summer, such as a south-facing bedroom or a loft conversion. Each does the job it is designed for.
If you are unsure, a survey will show what your home needs. We will tell you plainly if one system is enough.
Both technologies are efficient because they move heat rather than generating it from fuel. In practice, how efficient a system is depends on how well it is sized, installed and used, and on the building it serves.
An air conditioning unit heating a single well-used room can be very economical. A heat pump heating a whole home depends heavily on insulation and radiators. We do not quote savings, because they vary so much between homes, but we can explain what to expect for yours.
Can’t see your question? Send us an enquiry using the form at the top of the page and we will come back to you.
Not always. It depends on your home and goals. We can advise.
Not normally. It heats rooms but does not supply hot water or radiators.
A single room unit involves less work than a whole-home heat pump, but the right choice depends on what you need.
Yes. Both use an outdoor unit to exchange heat with the air, and its position is agreed at the survey.
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