Mitsubishi Heat Pump Review UK: Ecodan Range, Pricing & Verdict

Mitsubishi Electric's Ecodan is the most widely installed heat pump brand in the UK, built at a dedicated factory in Livingston, Scotland that has been producing heat pumps since 2009 and passed its five-millionth unit around July 2023, according to a Mitsubishi Electric-commissioned profile in Specifier Review. That scale matters in practice: it means a larger pool of trained service engineers and easier access to spares than smaller or newer entrants. This review covers what's actually in the current Ecodan range, real UK installed pricing before and after the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, warranty terms, noise levels, and how Mitsubishi stacks up against Daikin, Vaillant and Samsung. For the fundamentals of what SCOP and COP actually measure, read our heat pump efficiency explainer first; our best air source heat pump UK roundup covers how Ecodan ranks against the rest of the market.

Worth flagging up front: Mitsubishi Electric (which makes Ecodan) is a separate company from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI, which makes the unrelated Hydrolution EZY range covered in our R290 heat pump explainer). The two are easy to confuse on a spec sheet — this review is about Ecodan only.

The current Ecodan range

Mitsubishi sells two refrigerant families for UK homes, both monobloc (the whole refrigerant circuit stays outdoors, so only water pipes and an electrical connection cross into the house):

R32 Monobloc — the established range

The "Ultra Quiet" R32 Monobloc line spans 5.0 kW (Compact), 6.0 kW, 8.5 kW and 11.2 kW outputs, available in single- or three-phase, according to Mitsubishi Electric's own residential product pages. Sitting alongside it, the Zubadan cold-climate range adds a 14 kW model with patented low-ambient-temperature technology aimed at larger or harder-to-heat homes; Mitsubishi rates its heating efficiency at A+++ but does not publish a specific SCOP figure for it on the public product page.

R290 — the new default

Mitsubishi launched its first R290 (propane) Ecodan units at 5 kW and 6 kW in October 2023, then expanded the line on 3 April 2025 to add 8.5 kW, 10 kW and 12 kW models capable of flow temperatures up to 75°C — hot enough to retrofit onto an existing radiator system without swapping every radiator, according to Mitsubishi Electric's own launch announcement and coverage in pv magazine and Installer Online. R290 has a global warming potential of around 3, versus roughly 675 for R32, and Mitsubishi has signalled R290 as the direction of travel for the range, though it hasn't published a firm date for retiring R32 entirely.

For the 5 kW R290 model, Mitsubishi's own marketing quotes a SCOP of 4.42, which it describes as "best in class" — treat that as the manufacturer's own figure rather than an independently verified one, and always ask your installer for the ErP SCOP at your specific flow temperature rather than the manufacturer's best-case number. Mitsubishi does not publish a comparable numeric SCOP for the older R32 Monobloc or Zubadan ranges on its public site, only an A+++ efficiency band.

UK installed pricing

A full Ecodan installation — unit, hot-water cylinder and labour — typically lands between £7,000 and £12,000 before any grant, according to Heatable's own Ecodan review of the UK market. Apply the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant and your out-of-pocket cost can drop to as little as £0 to £4,500, depending on the model and property. The BUS itself currently pays £7,500 toward an MCS-certified air source heat pump in England and Wales, per GOV.UK's scheme guidance; Ofgem has confirmed a temporary 20% uplift to £9,000 for off-gas-grid properties (oil, LPG or direct electric heating) installing an ASHP or GSHP between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027. Installing solar PV or a battery alongside a heat pump also currently qualifies for 0% VAT on the energy-saving materials, running to 31 March 2027 — see our heat pump vs gas boiler cost comparison for how the running-cost side of the sums works out against a combi boiler.

Warranty

Mitsubishi tiers its Ecodan warranty by installer accreditation, according to its own residential warranty terms: 3 years as standard, extending to 5 years if fitted by a Mitsubishi Accredited Installer, and up to 7 years if fitted by a Business Solutions Partner (with faster claims handling). All tiers require registering the unit through Mitsubishi's Ecodan Guarantee process after installation — skipping that step leaves you on the shorter default term.

Noise

On the 8.5 kW R32 Monobloc unit, Mitsubishi's own datasheet quotes a sound power level of 58 dB(A) and a sound pressure level of 45 dB(A) at 1 metre. That comfortably clears the 42 dB(A) permitted-development limit measured at a neighbour's window (roughly 1 metre away), which our heat pump noise guide covers in full, including how sound pressure falls off with distance. Trade comparison site CCS Heating & Renewables places Daikin as marginally quieter still, in the 53–57 dB(A) range at typical measurement points, while The Eco Experts' independent roundup ranks Samsung's HT Quiet model as the quietest overall (down to 35 dB(A), QuietMark-accredited) with Ecodan positioned third and praised specifically for domestic hot water performance rather than outright noise.

MCS certification and BUS eligibility

Ecodan installations are fitted under MCS-certified installation schemes as standard practice in the UK heat pump trade, and BUS eligibility depends on both the product and the installer appearing on the MCS register at the time of your installation. Certification status can vary by specific model and change over time, so always ask your installer to confirm the exact Ecodan model you're being quoted is currently MCS-listed before signing anything — don't assume the whole range carries blanket certification.

Reputation and installer trust

An independent trade survey by Alchemy Research, reported by Installer Online, found Mitsubishi Electric ranked first for installer trust among UK heat pump brands — a qualitative finding about how installers rate the brand day-to-day, not a market-share percentage. Combined with the Livingston factory's scale (1,840 employees as of the 2023 anniversary reporting, per Specifier Review, backed by a £15.3 million investment announced in November 2021 including a £1.8 million Scottish Enterprise grant), Ecodan's practical advantage is less about chasing the single best efficiency number and more about parts availability, engineer familiarity and a long UK track record.

How Mitsubishi compares

Our full best air source heat pump UK guide ranks Ecodan alongside Vaillant, Daikin and Samsung in detail. In short: Vaillant's aroTHERM pro edges it slightly on peak SCOP, Daikin is a touch quieter on typical models and has a similarly mature UK distribution network, and Samsung's EHS Gen 7 goes lower still on noise for tightly spaced urban plots. What Ecodan offers instead is scale — the largest installed base, the deepest bench of experienced installers, and a hot-water performance edge that consistently earns it a strong reputation for domestic hot water output alongside space heating.

Our verdict

Ecodan is a safe, well-supported choice rather than the single best number on any one spec sheet. Choose the R290 range over R32 where budget allows — it reaches higher flow temperatures more efficiently, which matters for retrofitting onto an existing radiator system, and represents where Mitsubishi is clearly investing going forward. Choose it generally if parts availability, engineer familiarity and a long UK service history matter more to you than shaving a few decibels or a fraction of a SCOP point off a rival's best-case figure. Whatever model you're quoted, get a proper Heat Loss Calculation from an MCS-certified installer, confirm the exact model is currently MCS-listed, and check whether the R290 or R32 line better suits your existing emitters before committing.