Grant vs Samsung heat pumps: the value head-to-head

Quick answer: Pennies apart. The Grant Aerona 290 starts at £2,820 and a Samsung EHS Gen 7 8kW costs £2,740 (trade listings, checked July 2026). Both run R290 refrigerant with conditional seven-year warranties. Samsung has the stronger spec sheet, Grant the deeper UK support network. Let your installer shortlist decide it.

These are the two value picks of the UK heat pump market, and we have reviewed each on its own: the Grant Aerona3 and the Samsung EHS Gen 7. Grant’s current range is the Aerona 290, the R290 successor to the Aerona3 we reviewed. This is the head-to-head. We haven’t tested either unit; everything below comes from published specifications, listings and warranty terms, checked July 2026.

Price: a dead heat

Grant’s Aerona 290 range starts at £2,820 including VAT for the 4kW unit (PlumbXtra, checked July 2026), with five outputs up to 15.5kW. Samsung’s EHS Gen 7 comes in 5, 8, 12 and 16kW outputs, with the 8kW at £2,740.13 (The Heat Pump Warehouse, checked July 2026).

Unit price is a fraction of the story. Our modelled cost for a full air-to-water installation is £11,014 before the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant (method on our costs page), and the labour, cylinder and radiator work don’t care whose badge is on the box. Both brands routinely land at the value end of installer quotes, which is exactly why this pairing matters.

Specs on paper

Sources: Grant UK product pages, PlumbXtra and The Heat Pump Warehouse listings, and Samsung Climate Solutions spec pages, all checked July 2026.

Samsung reads better on paper. A 75°C flow temperature suits older radiator circuits, and the quiet-mode figure is striking, though note it’s a quiet-mode claim measured at three metres while the retailer-listed sound power figure is 59dB(A). Those measure different things, and neither substitutes for hearing a running install.

Grant counters with Quiet Mark accreditation across the range and a habit of conservative, serviceable engineering. It publishes fewer headline numbers, which makes like-for-like comparison harder; raise that with your installer rather than assuming either way.

Running costs: expect a tie

Neither brand will save you money over the other in any way you can bank. Both are modern R290 monoblocs, and delivered efficiency comes from the system around them: radiator sizes, flow temperature, weather compensation settings. At a SCOP of 3.5 and the 26.32p cap rate, 10,000kWh of heat costs about £746 a year from either machine; push the design to a SCOP of 4 and it drops to £653. The £93 between those numbers is decided by your installer’s design, and by nothing printed on either brochure.

Controls are the one visible difference. Grant pairs the range with its Aerona Smart Controller and a Wi-Fi hub for remote adjustment (PlumbXtra listing, checked July 2026); Samsung leans on its own app ecosystem. Neither is a reason to switch brands, but ask for a demonstration of whichever screen you’ll live with.

Warranty small print, same trap

Both warranties run seven years and both are conditional. Grant requires a G1-registered installer; Samsung requires an installer trained and registered on its partner portal. Miss the condition and cover shortens. So the real pre-purchase question isn’t which warranty is better on paper. It’s whether your installer holds the accreditation for the brand they are quoting. Ask directly.

Support and the evidence gap

Grant UK holds a Trustpilot rating of around four stars from more than 2,000 reviews, many from heat pump owners (checked July 2026). The company built its name on oil boilers and has decades of relationships with rural and off-gas installers, which shows in parts availability and phone support.

Samsung has no separate UK Trustpilot listing for its heating arm, so owner evidence is thinner on the ground. Support routes through your installer and Samsung’s climate division. That’s not a mark against the hardware; it’s simply less visible history, and it puts more weight on installer quality.

Our verdict

On hardware this is as close as head-to-heads get, which is why we’d pick the installer first and let the brand follow. If two equally good MCS quotes land on the mat: take the Samsung in a tight terrace where noise and a high flow temperature matter, and take the Grant in an off-gas village where its installer and support network is strongest. Compare running costs for your own house with our calculator, or start from the heat pump guide.

FAQs

Do both qualify for the £7,500 grant?

Yes. Both are MCS-listed air-to-water heat pumps, so the Boiler Upgrade Scheme applies in England and Wales. On our modelled costs that takes a typical install from around £11,014 to £3,514.

Which is quieter?

Unprovable from spec sheets. Samsung quotes 35dB(A) in quiet mode, measured at three metres; Grant carries Quiet Mark accreditation. Ask to stand next to a running unit of whichever you shortlist before you commit.

Why R290 rather than R32?

R290 (propane) has a far lower global warming potential and reaches higher flow temperatures, which suits radiator retrofits. Both of these ranges use it, and that’s part of why they lead the value segment.