Alto Assured Start at Home Scheme
If you're a heating installer in England, Scotland or Wales, you can get a FREE HEAT PUMP FOR YOUR OWN HOME through our Start At Home Scheme – and gain hands-on installation experience in the process.
Alto Energy joined Nesta’s Start at Home Scheme, enabling us to offer you a fully funded heat pump, alongside our expert heat pump training and technical support. It’s a practical way to learn how these systems work, understand real-life performance and gain the confidence to recommend heat pumps to your customers.
There’s no better way to understand how heat pumps perform than by living with one yourself. You’ll see the running costs, how the system behaves day to day, and gain an insight that goes beyond a typical installation.
How we support your installation
- Up to £1,000 CASHBACK towards your installation costs
- FREE HEAT PUMP TRAINING, either our one-day course at our training centre in Oxfordshire or online at your convenience
- MCS compliant HEAT PUMP DESIGN including room-by-room heat loss calculations, performance estimate, schematics and DNO applications, which we carry out on your behalf
- Pre-start review with our technical team to answer any last minute questions, as well as ongoing TECHNICAL SUPPORT throughout the installation
- COMMISSIONING by an Alto Energy engineer which we carry out WITH YOU to make sure everything is installed as per MCS and manufacturer requirements
- MCS CERTIFICATION on the project as part of a complete HANDOVER PACK with all the required heat pump documentation
- 7-YEAR PARTS & LABOUR WARRANTY as standard
Your Path to Installation
Applying is quick and easy. If you're already an Alto Assured partner, brilliant, click here to get a spec for your house! If you’re new to Alto and meet the criteria, you’ll just need to complete our free heat pump training course. One of our team will be in touch to guide you through the next steps.
Sign up to training
Sign up to our free heat pump training course.
Get A Spec for your home
Send us your property information.
We design & supply
We’ll design and supply the system for your home.
You Install, We Commission
Install the heat pump and one of our engineers will commission it.
What's Included
Each job will have a bespoke kit put together for you comprising of:
- An air source heat pump up to 12kW (either Mitsubushi, Samsung, Worcester Bosch or Midea)
- Hot water cylinder up to 300L
- Heat pump controller
- Plumbing installation kit including volumisers and external insulation
- Electrical installation kit including sub-board and MCBs specific to heat pump
Not included: Radiators and other standard plumbing/heating equipment which you can purchase through your regular merchant.
Are you eligible to join?
To take part in the scheme, you’ll need to meet the following criteria:
- You must be replacing a fossil fuel heating system (such as gas, oil or LPG) or direct electric heating in your own home
- You must hold a valid Unvented Hot Water certificate
- You must have current public liability insurance
- You must complete our free heat pump installation training
Please note: Installers from Scotland should aim to apply and obtain approval before the end of March 2026 to potentially avoid missing out while the next round of funding is under review.
Become an Alto Assured Partner Installer
Once you’ve completed our training and installed your own system, you’ll become an Alto Assured Partner Installer.
That means you can begin installing heat pumps for your customers in partnership with Alto Energy, working under our MCS umbrella scheme. As an Alto Assured installer, you’ll have the backing of a trusted name, with access to expert technical support and full MCS compliance on every project.
Once you've completed a few installations, you'll also have the opportunity to be recommended to homeowners who enquire through us directly.
And after each system is commissioned, Alto Energy takes full responsibility, giving both you and your customers added peace of mind.
FAQ's
Yes. The scheme is designed to help new installers, but experienced heat pump installers can also take part.
Yes. You can either get permission from your landlord or install the heat pump in a family member’s home.
Yes. We can design and supply underfloor heating systems to work alongside your air source heat pump. This cannot be covered through the scheme.
Yes. Larger heat pumps are available, but a contribution towards the additional cost may be required.
Once you complete the training and install your system, you'll become an Alto Assured Partner Installer. This allows you to install heat pumps for customers under Alto Energy’s MCS umbrella scheme.
An MCS umbrella scheme lets you install low-carbon heating systems without holding your own MCS certification. As an Alto Energy partner, you’ll get:
- Access to MCS-compliant system designs
- Eligibility for grants like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
- Ongoing technical support
- Freedom from admin and certification overheads
This is ideal for heating engineers and plumbers entering the heat pump market or avoiding full MCS accreditation costs.