Is replacing existing heat pumps a new market for Irish installers?

Replacing an existing heat pump is a different job from a first installation: a lower grant maximum, a customer who already has a system, and a customer list you may already own. This guide covers what SEAI pays as of November 2026, what the installed numbers do and do not tell you, and how to build a list from your own work.

What does SEAI pay when a customer replaces an existing heat pump?

As of November 2026, SEAI's heat pump system grant page says a Better Energy Homes grant of up to €6,500 (up to €4,500 for an apartment) is available to replace an existing heat pump. It applies only where the existing unit has not previously been grant-aided under any SEAI domestic scheme, and the Boiler Scrappage and central heating parts do not apply.

SEAI's Homeowner Application Guide adds a second condition: when the customer applies, the old unit must not be under a manufacturer or installer warranty that would cover its replacement cost, in whole or in part. A warranty that would apply but for missed servicing counts too.

SEAI's stated reason is that these customers are not decarbonising their heating and should already have a heat distribution system that suits a heat pump. Start a replacement quote from the replacement figure, not the first-installation maximum.

Source: SEAI, heat pump systems grant page and Homeowner Application Guide, as of November 2026.

These are maximums, not entitlements. The grant has conditions, including an MPRN and a home built and occupied before 2021, so confirm which apply to a replacement before you quote one. The first-installation maximum changed on 3 February 2026 (SEAI blog) and again when SEAI announced the Boiler Scrappage grant on 29 September 2026 (announcement), so put the date next to every figure. How to word a grant on a quote is covered in selling with the SEAI heat pump grant.

How many heat pumps are already installed in Ireland?

SEAI estimates the installed stock, after 2024 sales, at over 153,500 heat pumps. An estimated 37,600 were sold in 2024, 19% more than in 2023, and SEAI has grant-aided over 20,000 since 2019.

Those figures come from SEAI's July 2026 blog on the retrofit sector. They count units. They give neither the age of the stock nor a date when units need replacing, so they support no forecast. Treat the stock as the pool your own customers belong to, not as demand waiting to be collected. A unit that SEAI grant-aided, or that a warranty still covers, is outside the replacement route, so not every installed unit is a candidate.

The same blog counts over 600 SEAI-registered heat pump contractors, 88 of them new since January 2024. Owners can ask several firms, so start with customers who already know you. For the wider picture, see the Irish heat pump market.

How do you find homeowners who may need a replacement?

Start with the homes you have already worked on. Your job files hold the address, the system and the date for each customer, so you need not buy a contact, and the customer already knows who you are.

Build the list in this order:

Subcontract work changes step 1. If you installed for a One Stop Shop or a main contractor, the customer relationship may be theirs, so read your agreement before you contact those homes. Working with SEAI One Stop Shops covers how that setup works.

Can service visits turn into replacement jobs?

Sometimes, but a service visit is a service first. It lets you check the unit and record its condition, and whether it ends in a replacement is the owner's decision, based on what you found.

A service visit should cover:

• The booked work, completed
• Make, model, refrigerant and condition, written down
• What you found, told to the owner in plain terms and put in writing
• Whether an SEAI grant was ever paid for the unit and whether a warranty still covers it
• A replacement raised only if the findings support it, with SEAI's figure shown as "up to" and dated
• The outcome, noted in the record

Service work on a unit that contains F-gas has its own requirements. The EPA says companies, including sole traders, working on heat pumps for other people need an F-Gas company certificate, and the people who handle refrigerant need personal certificates. If you hand service work to a subcontractor, the EPA says they must hold a company certificate, which can be checked at F-Gas Registration Ltd if the firm is registered in Ireland. The F-Gas certificate guide sets out the details.

What records should you keep from day one?

Keep one record per unit that shows who it was for, what it is, what it contains and what was checked. Those records are what make a later customer list possible, and the EPA expects some of them by law.

The EPA says newly installed and charged equipment must be checked for leaks immediately after it goes into service, and that a check is also needed after a leak repair. Where mandatory leak checking applies, the mandatory records must be kept for at least five years. Below the mandatory thresholds the EPA says records are not required but are best practice.

Which side a unit falls on depends on the equipment. The EPA's FAQ says mandatory leak checking is not required for hermetically sealed equipment in residential buildings that holds less than 3 kilograms of F-gas and is labelled as hermetically sealed. Check the FAQ for the unit in front of you.

Ask about contact preferences on site. The Data Protection Commission says electronic direct marketing by phone, fax, text message and email is covered by S.I. 336/2011, which operates alongside GDPR. For the rules on contacting people by phone, text and email, see contacting leads legally.

Typical mistakes in the replacement market

• Quoting the first-installation maximum for a replacement. As of November 2026 the replacement figure is up to €6,500, or up to €4,500 for an apartment, and only where no SEAI grant was paid for the old unit and no covering warranty applies.
• Treating grant figures as certain. They are maximums and depend on SEAI's conditions for the home.
• Forecasting a replacement date from age alone. The figures in this guide do not give one, so tell owners only what you found on their own unit.
• Using old contact details without checking the rules for phone, text and email.
• Skipping the leak check or the record at installation, then trying to rebuild the history years later.
• Handing refrigerant work to a subcontractor without checking their company certificate.
• Quoting undated figures. The heat pump grant changed in February and again in autumn 2026.

For the full route into the trade, see the heat pump installer overview.