Samsung vs LG heat pumps UK: price, SCOP and noise compared

Quick answer: Samsung’s EHS Gen 7 R290 is the value pick at £2,283 ex VAT for the 8kW, against £3,517 for LG’s 9kW Therma V R290. LG is the quieter machine, at 49 to 52 dB(A) rated sound power versus Samsung’s 55 to 65 dB(A). Both reach 75°C flow on propane.

We haven’t tested either unit. Figures below come from Samsung and LG datasheets and UK retail listings, checked on 28 July 2026.

Two Korean giants, one very awkward comparison

Samsung and LG both sell R290 monoblocs into the UK, and both reach 75°C flow on propane. Then you put the datasheets side by side. LG’s numbers are higher almost everywhere, which is partly a real efficiency difference and partly a difference in how the two brands test, and you have to hold both of those in your head at once.

Samsung publishes MCS-listed SCOPs, at seven flow temperatures from 35°C to 65°C. LG publishes EN 14825 SCOPs at 35 and 55°C. MCS applies its own conditions to arrive at the figure that goes on your grant paperwork, so a Samsung MCS SCOP and an LG EN 14825 SCOP are not the same measurement. Anyone putting them in one league table without saying so is misleading you, and yes, that includes most comparison sites.

Published specifications

The noise numbers hide a trap

LG’s headline is 49 dB(A) rated sound power on the 7, 9 and 12kW units. Genuinely quiet, and a full ten decibels below Samsung’s 8kW at 59 dB(A). But LG’s 7 and 9kW datasheet carries a second row most listings never reproduce: daytime maximum sound power, at 58 dB(A) for the 7kW and 60 dB(A) for the 9kW, measured at maximum fan and compressor speed with 2°C outside.

So LG’s rated figure and its published worst case are nine to ten decibels apart. Samsung publishes one figure. When your installer runs the MCS sound calculator, the number that goes in determines whether you sit inside permitted development or need a planning application, and the two brands are handing you different kinds of number. Ask which one is being used. Our guide to heat pump noise and planning covers what the 37 dB(A) limit means in practice.

Samsung’s counter is quiet mode, which the company puts as low as 35 dB(A). That’s a sound pressure figure measured 3 metres from the front of the unit, not sound power, so it isn’t comparable to the 59 dB(A) in the same brochure. Different units of measurement, same page. It happens a lot.

Price is where Samsung pulls away

Supply-only at The Heat Pump Warehouse on 28 July 2026, the Samsung 8kW listed at £2,740.13 including VAT (£2,283.44 ex). The LG 9kW Therma V R290 Monobloc Premium listed at £4,219.92 including VAT (£3,516.60 ex) the same day. That’s a gap of £1,233 ex VAT. Even allowing for LG’s extra kilowatt, nothing on the two datasheets justifies it.

A thousand pounds buys a lot. It buys three or four upsized radiators, which will lower your design flow temperature by 5 to 10°C and improve your real seasonal efficiency more than the difference between these two units’ lab SCOPs. That’s the trade nobody puts in a comparison table. Our Samsung EHS Gen 7 review goes into the build quality question in more detail.

Where each one is the wrong choice

Don’t buy the Samsung 16kW for a house with close neighbours. At 65 dB(A) sound power it’s the loudest unit in this comparison by a clear margin, and passing the MCS 020 a) calculation will constrain where you can put it.

Don’t buy the LG on the strength of its 5.45 SCOP if you’re keeping 1970s radiators. At 55°C it drops to 3.97 on LG’s own figures, and in a real house with an imperfect design you’ll see less than that. Nobody gets the brochure number.

And don’t buy either on brand recognition. Samsung and LG both make excellent compressors and both have thinner UK service networks than Mitsubishi, Vaillant or Worcester. Whether that matters depends entirely on who’s fitting it and whether they’ll still be trading in year six.

The verdict

Samsung, for most people. The 8kW at £2,283 ex VAT, with warranty up to 7 years through an accredited installer and MCS SCOPs published at seven flow temperatures, is the most useful data set and the lowest price in this pairing. Spend the saving on emitters.

LG if the siting is tight and noise is the constraint, or if you need the 14 or 16kW sizes with a decent 55°C SCOP. Just make sure the sound calculation uses LG’s daytime maximum, not its rated figure. Compare the whole field in our best heat pump brands guide, then check the sums with the cost calculator or read our heat pump product guide.

FAQs

Why is LG’s SCOP so much higher than Samsung’s?

Partly design, partly test basis. LG quotes EN 14825, Samsung quotes MCS-listed SCOPs. MCS figures are usually the more conservative of the two, so the gap on paper overstates the gap in a real house.

Is Samsung’s 7-year warranty parts only?

Samsung’s UK product pages don’t state a warranty length, but its extended warranty form gives 7 years when a Samsung-approved installer registers the system within 30 days of commissioning (checked September 2026). Extended manufacturer cover of this type is normally parts only, with labour handled separately by the installer for a year or two. Get the length, and what it actually covers, written into the quote.

Do Samsung and LG heat pumps qualify for the £7,500 grant?

Yes, where the specific model is MCS-listed and an MCS-certified company installs it. The standard Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant is £7,500 for air source heat pumps in England and Wales, with no income test.