Will a Heat Pump Keep a Leicester Home Warm in Winter?
Last reviewed: 2 October 2026
Leicester's winters are colder than the South West's, and people reasonably ask whether a heat pump can cope. These answers cover efficiency in the cold, defrosting, cold snaps and what makes the difference in older Leicester homes.
How cold does Leicester get?
The East Midlands sits inland, away from the moderating effect of the sea, so its winters are colder than the South West’s. The nearest long-running Met Office station to Leicester, at Sutton Bonington about 20 km to the north, averages a January overnight low of about 1.9°C, with frost on around nine nights in a typical January. Hard frosts below −5°C happen most winters, usually for a few nights at a time.
Does a heat pump still work at −5°C?
Yes. Modern air source heat pumps keep extracting heat from outdoor air down to −15°C or lower. At −5°C, a typical unit produces around 2.3–2.8 units of heat for each unit of electricity: less than in mild weather, but still more than twice as much as a direct electric heater or storage heater.
Over a whole Leicester heating season, a well-designed system typically averages about 3.0–3.5.
Will my house be cold on the coldest days?
Not if the system is designed properly. Installers calculate your home’s heat loss for a cold design day set by MCS for your area. The heat pump and radiators are sized to keep the house at temperature on that day. Leicester’s design temperature is colder than Bristol’s or Plymouth’s, so a Leicester house may need a slightly larger unit than the same house in the South West.
If a heat pump is undersized, it relies on an electric backup heater in the cold, which costs more. That’s a design fault, not a limitation of heat pumps.
What’s the steam coming out of the unit?
That’s a defrost cycle. On cold, damp mornings, moisture in the air freezes onto the outdoor coil. The heat pump briefly reverses to melt it, which produces a cloud of steam and some water. It lasts a few minutes, your radiators stay warm, and it’s completely normal.
Make sure meltwater can drain away. In a Leicester back yard, the installer should site the unit so water doesn’t run across a path or the jitty and freeze.
My terrace is draughty. Will a heat pump cope?
It will if the design accounts for it, but draughts make the house lose heat faster on cold days, especially when the wind picks up. Before installation, it’s worth:
- draught-proofing windows and doors
- sealing gaps between floorboards in rooms with suspended timber floors
- blocking unused chimneys (with a little ventilation left)
- topping up loft insulation
These are cheap and make the house hold its heat better through a cold snap. See insulation before a heat pump.
Should I turn it off at night?
No. Heat pumps work best keeping a steady temperature. Turning the heating off overnight means the house cools down, and the heat pump then has to work hard at a high temperature to recover in the morning, which is less efficient. A small overnight setback of a degree or two is fine.
What about hot water in winter?
The heat pump reheats the cylinder between heating cycles. In very cold weather this can take a bit longer, but a correctly sized cylinder holds enough for normal use. Because Leicester’s water is hard, a heat pump-rated cylinder coil keeps reheating efficient year after year.
Do I need to keep the gas boiler as backup?
No. A correctly sized heat pump doesn’t need one, and hybrid systems that keep a gas boiler aren’t eligible for the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.
What can I do during a cold snap?
- Leave the heating running steadily.
- Keep snow and leaves clear of the outdoor unit.
- Let weather compensation do its job: it raises the water temperature automatically as it gets colder.
- If a room is consistently cold, ask your installer to check the radiator balance or heating curve.
Related guides
See what a heat pump would look like in your Leicester home
The mechanism is the same in every UK home; the design is specific to yours. Our team carries out a free in-home survey including a full room-by-room heat-loss calculation, identifies the system size and configuration that fits your property, and provides a written quote with the £7,500 BUS grant already deducted.
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