Map shows full list of UK areas with most heat pumps – and where they’re snubbed

The top 10 places where the most heat pumps have been installed in the UK have been revealed.

Cornwall has the highest number of heat pump installations in Britain, with 14,043 of the devices, according to figures from Uswitch.

Wiltshire is the second highest (4,709) followed by King’s Lynn (4,084), Shropshire (3,756), Breckland (3,701), South Somerset (3,242), Dorset (3,219), East Suffolk (3,139), Mid-Suffolk (2,888), Westminster (2,746) and South Norfolk (2,697).

There are two types of heat pumps, air source and ground source.

The first takes heat from the air and absorbs it into a fluid which is then compressed, raising its temperature, and pushed into radiators or underfloor heating.

Ground source heat pumps pump thermal transfer fluid through a loop buried in the ground. This fluid absorbs heat from the ground and comes back out again to heat a home.

Take up of heat pumps has been slow in Britain, where devices can be more expensive to install compared to gas boilers and there is a lack of skilled installers.

A list of the places in the UK where the least heat pumps have been installed sees Tamworth at the top, on just 20.

The market town in Staffordshire is followed by Hyndburn (24), Barrow-in-Furness (27), Eastbourne (36), Burnley (38), Slough (38), Isles of Scilly (42), Oadby and Wigston (45), Blackpool (49) and Corby (55).

Ben Gallizzi, an energy expert at Uswitch, told MailOnline some heat pumps can be pricey and disruptive to install.

He said although heat pumps can reduce your energy bill if they are well-installed, the amount saved is “difficult” to predict as it depends on what system they replace.

Mr Gallizzi added: “If you’re replacing a standard gas boiler, a heat pump may be less likely to offer savings, though it will drastically cut your carbon emissions.”

In England and Wales, it is possible to get up to £7,500 to replace a boiler with a heat pump.

Grants of up to the same amount are available in Scotland for improvements to home energy efficiency, rising to £9,000 for rural properties.

There aren’t any schemes to help households install heat pumps in Northern Ireland, according to the Energy Saving Trust.