Switching to low-carbon heating is one of the biggest steps you can take to future-proof your home, yet misinformation still leaves many homeowners out in the cold. To clear the air, our Octopus expert is here to tackle the UK’s most common heat pump misconceptions. Phil Steele, Future Technologies Evangelist at Octopus Energy, is Octopus’s resident tech expert, obsessed with electrifying homes to make them smarter, greener, and cheaper to run. He regularly uses his own home and family as a real-world testing lab for cutting-edge hardware, software, and smart tariffs before they roll out to the public.Here, Phil busts the biggest myths surrounding heat pump technology.Does a heat pump work in UK winter?If heat pumps can handle Nordic winters – with Norway hitting 60 installations per 100 households by 2020 – they can easily handle the UK. While they operate efficiently down to -20°C, UK winters rarely drop below -5°C. To match this climate perfectly, the Octopus Cosy comes in three power outputs (6kW, 9kW, and 12kW), allowing installers to select the ideal size for your home's winter heating needs.It’s about energy, not heat. Heat pumps extract energy from the air. I'm deliberately using the word 'energy' rather than 'heat' here as I think this is where the myth comes from; when it's -5°C then it's natural to wonder where the ‘heat’ comes from.Absolute Zero is -273.15°C and when you get there there's no energy in the air. So if the air temperature is -5°C, there's actually still plenty of energy the heat pump can use to keep your home warm.If you want to get really technical, here’s how the magic refrigerant is used to heat your hot water and taps, even in subjectively cold weather: Watch on YouTube.Does a heat pump keep running efficiently when it freezes outside?The short answer is yes, it’s still efficient, but not quite as much as on a milder day. On a freezing day the heat loss of the home is greater. So the heat pump has to work harder—it's a bit like driving a car uphill consumes more energy than cruising on a straight flat road.A greater temperature difference (or lift) in the winter means the heat pump is working harder to extract heat which reduces the efficiency a little. Also, frost will build up on the heat pump, so from time to time it draws warm water back to defrost itself, which means reproducing that warm water again once the defrost cycle is finished.It's really important to look at the average efficiency over an entire year, which is referred to as SCOP (Seasonal Co-Efficient of Performance).To prove what they can do, we’ve tested our Cosy heat pump in temperatures as low as -20°C in our weather chamber.Are heat pumps loud to run?Toggle on ‘Hush mode’ to make your heat pump even quieter (Octopus Energy)Modern systems are very quiet. The heat pump compressor does make a bit of noise but there are strict regulations on how loud this can be (around 40 - 65 decibels within one metre). That's roughly the same as a gas boiler and because they're outside, most people won't even notice.With the Octopus Cosy, we’ve introduced ‘Hush mode’ which you can toggle on/off when you like to make your heat pump even quieter.It works by limiting your heat pump's output—that doesn't mean it won't work as well, it just means your heat pump won't use the "top end" output designed for the coldest days of the year.Is it true that heat pumps only work in brand-new, perfectly insulated homes?Not at all. We guarantee comfort levels when installing heat pumps and have different sized units (Cosy 6, 9, 12) based on your own personal home set up and preferences. Every home is different, which is why we carry out a heat loss survey to understand what size you’ll need.Any heating system being installed (gas, oil, firewood, heat pump) must meet the heat requirements of the home. If a home is poorly insulated, then a bigger heat source is needed—this isn't just true for heat pumps.Heat pumps can be used in much larger buildings too, and even multiple units can be used together, so it's just a question of specifying the right size heat pump (or any other heat source) for the property.Can I keep my existing radiators when upgrading to a heat pump?Installers now know more about the heat loss of bricks, plasterboard, loft insulation, windows and doors (Octopus Energy)Yes, you often can keep your existing radiators, but it’s down to personal preference, how efficiently you want the system to run and your property's insulation, as every home is different. There shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to any home heating system.We calculate the exact heat requirement for every room to ensure your home stays perfectly warm. Because we offer three different system sizes, we can comfortably heat almost any property. Our priority is your comfort.In home heating installations 30 or more years ago for boilers, radiator sizes were based on guesswork. It's much more common now to calculate what size you need, as we know more about the heat loss of bricks, plasterboard, loft insulation, windows, doors, etc. So surveyors and installers sometimes find mistakes in previous radiator sizes that need to be put right.Does a heat pump work in the same way as a traditional boiler?Traditional boilers blast heat in short, high-temperature bursts. They tend to overshoot your target temperature, turn off, let the house cool down below the target, and then blast on again.Heat Pumps are on most of the time and run for longer periods at a lower, steadier temperature. Instead of fluctuating, a heat pump brings your home exactly to the target temperature and keeps it there efficiently.