Why oil homes can be promising
Oil heating can be expensive and price volatility makes long-term planning harder. A well-designed heat pump may reduce running costs, especially if the oil boiler is older or inefficient.
The comparison still depends on electricity price, SCOP, heat demand, and installation scope. A poorly insulated home may need fabric work before the heat pump case looks strong.
Example comparison
If a home needs 16,000 kWh of heat and an oil boiler is 82% efficient, oil input energy is about 19,512 kWh. Multiply that by your oil cost per kWh to estimate annual oil heating cost.
A heat pump at SCOP 3.0 would use about 5,333 kWh of electricity for the same useful heat. The cheaper option depends on the real unit prices and whether grants reduce installation cost.