A heat pump is a big decision, and most homeowners are asked to make it on trust. Quotes for the same home can recommend very different sizes, running cost promises are hard to check, and the reasoning behind a design is rarely shared. HeatLens is built to change that.
It gives you a room-by-room picture of your home, explains why a heat pump of a particular size fits, shows how sure each answer is, and compares the options for insulation, radiators and tariffs. You can use it before you speak to an installer, alongside their survey, or to check a quote you have already received.
Features for homeowners
The video below walks through the features most useful to homeowners. They are grouped the way most people approach the decision: understanding the home, designing the system, saving money and going ahead with confidence.
Understand your home
- Start with what you have. Upload your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), a floor plan or photos. HeatLens reads the walls, windows, roof and floor areas from them and builds a picture of your home. Every extracted detail shows how confident the reading is, and you can check and correct it.
- See where your heat goes. Heat loss is calculated room by room, so you can see which rooms lose the most heat and which are hardest to keep warm. This is often where the biggest improvements are.
- Every number explained. HeatLens explains in plain English why your heat pump is the size it is. Each input is labelled as measured, taken from your plan, taken from standard tables or estimated, and the result carries an evidence level, so you can see how sure the answer is and what would make it firmer.
Design the right system
- A heat pump sized for your home. HeatLens compares heat pump options against your home's design heat loss using manufacturer performance data and seasonal efficiency (SCOP) figures. It flags units that would be too small on a cold day and units that would be oversized, which can cost more to buy and run less efficiently.
- Hot water sized for your household. The hot water cylinder is sized from how your household uses hot water, so there is enough without heating more than you need.
- Radiators that work at low temperature. Heat pumps run most efficiently at lower water temperatures. Every radiator is checked at the target flow temperature, room by room, and upgrades are suggested only where a room cannot be kept warm.
- Fabric upgrades worth doing. Insulation and other upgrades are modelled one by one, including those recommended on your EPC, so you can see which reduce heat loss most and how they change the heat pump you need.
Save money
- Save with the right tariff. Running costs are compared across flat and time-of-use tariffs, and against your current heating system. Heat pumps can run and heat hot water in cheaper hours, and the right tariff can make a large difference to the bill.
Go ahead with confidence
- A report written for your home. The AI property report is generated for your home from everything you upload. It is described in more detail below.
- Advice about your own home. Ask the HeatLens AI questions about your project, or book a free callback from our AI phone assistant. Answers are based on your actual home, design and quotation, so they are specific to you.
- Check it works as designed (on our roadmap). After installation, HeatLens will be able to compare your real energy use with the design and flag problems early. The installer view is being built first, and a homeowner view will follow.
Why this matters
Heat pumps work well when they are designed well. Problems usually come from the design stage: a unit sized on rough estimates, radiators that cannot deliver enough heat at low temperatures, or a tariff that does not suit how the system runs.
In one UK study of 56 homes, calculated heat loss matched the measured value, within its uncertainty, for only around 30% of homes, and most of the rest were overestimated (source). Overestimating heat loss leads to oversized heat pumps, which cost more and can run less efficiently. Underestimating it can leave rooms cold on the coldest days.
HeatLens cannot replace a survey, but it can show you what the design rests on, which assumptions matter most and what to check before you commit.
Your AI property report
The AI property report costs £14.99 and is generated for your home from all the details and data you upload. It is written in plain English and covers:
- a summary of the design heat loss, the recommended heat pump, running costs and available grants;
- your house, what the EPC says and what it means for a heat pump;
- room-by-room heat loss and the radiator sizes each room needs;
- the heat pump design, including hot water;
- fabric improvements modelled one by one, with savings, typical costs and payback;
- running costs month by month;
- tariffs and heating controls, with general notes on solar panels and batteries;
- grants, loans and finance, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme;
- the assumptions behind the design and what to confirm, with the most important first;
- answers to the questions homeowners most often ask; and
- next steps, including what to check with your installer.
Working with your installer
HeatLens does not install heat pumps and does not recommend a particular installer. It is designed to help you have a better conversation with the installers you speak to. You can take your report to any MCS-certified installer and use it to compare quotes on the same basis.
Once you have a project, you can upload installer quotes and compare them from My Home. The comparison helps you see what each quote includes and spot anything missing before you compare prices.
What HeatLens is and is not
HeatLens calculates heat loss room by room following the CIBSE Domestic Heating Design Guide method, which is based on BS EN 12831-1. Its results are design estimates. They depend on the information available about your home, and the evidence level on each result tells you how much of it has been confirmed. A survey by a qualified installer is still needed before an installation.
Features marked beta are working but still being refined. Features on our roadmap are in development.
Pricing and access
Your first project is free. The AI property report costs £14.99. You can also explore a complete example home in the free demo, with no account needed.
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