Oil Boiler Replacement Devon: A Heat Pump Designed Room by Room for Your Home
Oil boiler replacement in Devon, with a heat pump sized room by room for your house. The £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for eligible oil and LPG homes comes off the invoice before you pay.
James and the team provided a first rate end to end service, our old oil boiler failed on Good Friday and within 3/4 weeks we were up and running with a new energy efficient air source heating system.
What your oil boiler replacement includes
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Every quote starts with a room-by-room heat loss survey. Wall construction, glazing and room use get recorded individually, and that survey sets the kilowatt figure, the radiator schedule and the flow temperature before anything gets ordered.
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James isn’t tied to one manufacturer, so the unit is the one that suits the house, often an Ideal, sized between 4 and 10 kilowatts for most oil-heated homes in this area and usually paired with a pre-plumbed cylinder that arrives with its filter, diverter valve and overheat cut-out already fitted.
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That cylinder is the detail that keeps a subcontractor install fast and reliable, and it’s why James reaches for one on most jobs.
Because Eco Pro is an MCS-certified installation company, we apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant on your behalf.
South West share of off-gas-grid homes, against the GB average
★★★★★
“Despite parts of the farmhouse being 13th century the system is performing extremely well and keeps the house constantly warm throughout.”
Barbara M. · Google review · five stars
Oil boiler replacement Devon: is your off-grid home a good fit?
The South West has the highest share of off-gas-grid households of any English region, around 24% against a GB average of 16%, roughly one and a half times the national rate, and East Devon’s rural villages carry a large share of that oil and LPG heating stock.
This page is written for that household: an oil or LPG boiler, off the mains gas network.
Most of the properties James designs for are 1960s to 1990s detached houses and bungalows, or older stone, cob and period rural buildings, typically EPC D or E, with loft insulation done and solid walls left untreated.
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James designs the heat pump system to match that condition.
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A heat loss survey measures what the walls, windows and rooms actually lose, and the flow temperature gets designed around that number, usually landing around 45 to 50 degrees.
A second opinion from someone who audits installers
James also works as a freelance NAPIT MCS assessor, auditing other installers’ finished jobs against the national standard. He knows exactly what an oversized or badly commissioned heat pump looks like, because checking for it is part of his other job.
For a look at how this plays out on a genuinely awkward property, see installing a heat pump in an older Devon property.
If your oil tank sits within reach of your driveway and you’ve already had one installer say your house “isn’t suitable,” get a second opinion from someone who audits installers for a living.
What a NAPIT assessor looks for
The unit’s output gets checked against a room-by-room heat loss calculation. A unit picked from the floor area alone fails that check.
The design flow temperature has to suit the radiators in every room. Where it doesn’t, the system runs hotter than it should and costs more to run.
The outdoor unit needs a sound calculation for its exact spot, measured against the nearest neighbour’s window.
A finished job needs its commissioning figures written down and its MCS certificate issued. The grant claim depends on that certificate.
Taking the oil boiler out, putting the heat pump in
Your old oil boiler comes out as part of the installation, and the heat pump and a new hot water cylinder go in as one job, usually inside a week.
Radiators get changed only where the room-by-room survey shows a room needs it.
Where the outdoor unit and the cylinder will sit gets agreed with you at the free home assessment, before anything is booked in.
What switching from oil actually costs to run
Nesta’s research on oil-heated homes switching under the £9,000 grant put the saving for a medium-sized home at over £650 a year, based on the energy price cap and oil prices at the time of that research.
- It is not a guaranteed figure: it will narrow if oil gets cheaper, and your own number depends on your tariff, your home’s heat loss and how you use hot water.
- This page prints no spot price for oil or electricity, because both change within weeks and a printed figure would be wrong by the time you read it.
Three jobs leave your winter for good: checking the tank gauge before a cold snap, calling round for the best delivery price, and running dry in January.
- A heat pump on a dedicated tariff, paired with a well-insulated cylinder, gives you a flatter and more predictable bill even where the headline saving against oil is modest.
- Our month-by-month comparison shows how heat pump running costs compare with oil.
Why East Devon oil households choose Eco Pro
The owner runs your job.
- James assesses, designs and quotes, commissions the system and hands it over.
- Once the oil boiler has gone he stays your aftercare contact, so the phone reaches the person who designed your system, never a string of departments.
Your designer inspects everybody else’s work.
- NAPIT uses James as a freelance MCS assessor, checking other installers’ finished jobs against the national standard.
Sizing comes from a room-by-room measurement.
- Every wall, window and room recorded before a kilowatt gets specified, which is the direct answer to the oversizing problem above.
Older and off-grid properties welcome.
- A converted cob cottage on oil behaves nothing like a 1990s bungalow on LPG, and both get designed for what they actually are.
Over 100 heat pump installations of hands-on experience.
- That comes on top of six years installing ground and air source systems before James started Eco Pro.
The grant handled, about a week on site.
- Eco Pro submits the claim, and it’s already off your invoice.
For another big rural oil pocket in East Devon, see heat pump installation in Honiton.
What homeowners say on Google
The £9,000 grant and 0% VAT for oil and LPG homes
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air source heat pump for most eligible homes in England and Wales. Off-gas-grid households heating with oil or LPG get an extra £1,500 on top, £9,000 in total, available now and running until 31 March 2027. James applies for it and deducts it from your invoice before you pay anything.
Eligibility depends on the property and your circumstances, so not every home qualifies. We confirm yours at the free home assessment before anything is promised. For the full mechanics of how the grant is assessed and claimed, see the £9,000 oil and LPG grant.
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Installations also qualify for 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, then move to the reduced rate of 5%.
- And since 28 April 2026, a valid EPC is no longer a strict requirement to apply: where you don’t have one, Eco Pro can support the application with a recent fuel bill or oil receipt and photographs of your existing system.
The heat pump we fit for oil-heated homes
The room-by-room heat loss survey is also the answer to the most common real failure mode in this industry: an oversized heat pump that short-cycles and never settles into an efficient rhythm. The single biggest reason a heat pump ends up costing more to run than it should is a unit sized on a guess.
Most oil-heated homes in East Devon land in the 4 to 10 kilowatt range once they’re properly measured, and the heat pump is picked to match that number and the house around it.
James pairs it with a pre-plumbed cylinder for the same reason a subcontractor team can commission it reliably in a day: the filter, diverter valve and overheat stat are already fitted at the factory, so less can go wrong on site.
Weather-compensating controls go in where they help, and James sets them up when he commissions the system.
Each house gets the heat pump and cylinder that suit it, from whichever maker builds the right one.
See how we approach air source heat pump installation in full.
How to replace oil boiler with heat pump Devon-wide, from free visit to handover
Four steps, and the first one is free.
Free home visit
James comes to your property, looks at your current oil system, answers your questions and leaves a fixed estimate on the spot.
Heat loss survey and design
This chargeable stage costs £250 plus VAT, waived in full if you go ahead with the install. It produces the unit size, radiator schedule, flow temperature and hot water plan specific to your house.
Installation and commissioning
About a week on site, usually starting Monday and commissioned Thursday or Friday, with only one or two jobs running at a time so your installer isn’t stretched across the street.
Handover and aftercare
A plain-English walkthrough of the controls and the heating schedule, then the same number to call when your first service is due.
“The installation team were professional, friendly, and tidy, and completed the work to an exceptionally high standard.”
Gobu R. · Google review · five stars
Your guarantees when you switch
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Every installation carries the IWA workmanship warranty and deposit insurance.
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Ideal units come with seven years of parts and labour as standard, not sold as a paid upgrade, and other makes carry their own manufacturer cover; Eco Pro registers the applicable warranty at commissioning.
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Eco Pro is an MCS-certified installation company, a RECC and APHC member, signed up to the TSI Approved Code, NAPIT registered and an Ideal Heating partner installer.
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Once your system is in, heat pump servicing covers it whether we installed it or not.
Street, Somerset: three opinions, one 16kW mistake, and the design that settled it
Exmouth
A 1930s six-bedroom home with 34 windows
The owners doubted a heat pump could heat an older, larger property. A detailed design running at a low 47 degrees, with seven radiators upgraded and the rest kept, proved it could, comfortably.
West Hill · Ottery St Mary
The job three installers said could not be done
The owners wanted their hot water cylinder relocated to the garage. Three previous companies refused. We redesigned the pipework and did it, on a 311m² home with uninsulated floors.
Newton Abbot
A period home others had written off
We redesigned and re-piped the entire heating system for low-temperature running, and added radiators to rooms that never had them. “Too old” is usually a design problem, not a dead end.
We install across East Devon, including Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Ottery St Mary, Woodbury, Lympstone, Newton Poppleford, West Hill and Honiton.
Street, Somerset: three installers, three different answers. We designed it correctly.
By the time the owner of this oil-heated Somerset property called Eco Pro, they had already sat through visits from three heating companies, two of them national names, and come away with contradictory advice. One installer proposed a 16 kilowatt heat pump. Another said the house couldn’t take a heat pump at all. James’s room-by-room heat loss survey settled it: the property was a good fit, and the real heat demand sat well under 16 kilowatts.
James replaced the oil boiler with an Ideal Logic Air, picked for this property and sized to that survey, and applied the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant of £7,500, the rate in force when the job ran, direct off the invoice.
Oil boiler replacement Devon: questions before you book
It depends on your property’s size, radiators and hot water setup. Every enquiry starts with a free home assessment, and the heat loss survey sets the final figure. For typical ranges, see air source heat pump cost in Devon.
Book my free home assessmentYes, once it’s sized to your actual house. The room-by-room heat loss survey sets the unit size and flow temperature so the system is built for your specific rooms.
Book my free home assessmentYour old oil boiler is removed as part of the installation, and a heat pump and hot water cylinder go in. Where the new kit sits is agreed with you at the free home assessment.
Book my free home assessmentOften, but the honest answer depends on your tariff and your home. Nesta’s research put the saving for a medium-sized oil-heated home at over £650 a year, based on the energy price cap and oil prices at the time of that research, and that figure narrows if oil gets cheaper. Nobody can promise you an exact saving. See the month-by-month breakdown of how heat pump running costs compare with oil.
Book my free home assessmentYes. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 for most homes, and £9,000 for off-gas-grid oil and LPG households, available now until 31 March 2027. Eco Pro handles the claim on your behalf and takes it off your bill.
Book my free home assessmentSometimes. A heat pump runs a gentler flow temperature than an oil boiler, so a handful of radiators in an older property may need upsizing. The heat loss survey names them room by room.
Book my free home assessmentThere’s no ban on running an existing oil boiler. What’s changed is the incentive to switch: the £9,000 grant for oil and LPG homes and 0% VAT on installation both run until 31 March 2027, which is why this is a good window to book your free home assessment.
Book my free home assessmentAbout a week on site, usually starting Monday and commissioned Thursday or Friday. Eco Pro caps it at one or two jobs running at once, so the team that starts your job finishes it.
Book my free home assessmentBook your free home assessment
James walks your property, looks at your current oil system, and tells you plainly whether it’s a good fit. Our contact page has other ways to reach us.
★★★★★
“After comparing several quotes and gathering details I decided to go with Eco Pro after speaking with James and couldn’t be happier.”
DJ G. · Google review · five stars
Prefer to talk first? Call 01395 202030. James answers the phone himself rather than a call centre picking up.
