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Meanwhile, green campaigners have also criticised the government scheme for not being ambitious enough.
Greenpeace previously said the rollout suffered from “inadequate funding” and should have been accompanied by a pledge to phase out new gas boilers earlier than the current 2035 target.
And Mike Childs, head of science policy and research at Friends of the Earth, warned that the cost of living crisis would only serve to make heat pumps less attractive at their current prices.
“Given the rise in energy bills, there will be fewer and fewer people who will feel as though they can afford to spend £5,000 on a heat pump right now,” he added.
“The Government needs to kickstart this industry so that we can move away from gas boilers.
“It is right that we are investing with this scheme but the grants are not big enough and times are hard. They need to be more generous so more people can afford heat pumps.
“Unless that happens, there is little chance of the Government hitting its target of 600,000 installations annually by 2028.”
Experts say electric heat pumps can help bring household energy bills down and are far more efficient than traditional gas boilers, which cost between £1,500 to £3,500.
Because of soaring gas prices, a family could save up to £260 by switching from a boiler to a heat pump, think tank the Regulatory Assistance Project has said.
The most common kind of heat pump, an air source pump, uses refrigerant and a compressor to extract warmth from outside air, before heating air or water which is then circulated around the home.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, a heat pump can extract heat from temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees celsius, and uses only enough electricity to run the compressor and circulating pump. Less common ground source pumps work in a similar way, using heat extracted from the ground.
They are currently expensive to install, however, at about £8,000-£10,000 for a typical three-bed home, and up to £20,000 for bigger homes.
The Government last year announced a 2035 ban on new gas boilers and grants through the boiler upgrade scheme in a bid to boost demand for heat pumps and bring costs down.
In his spring statement, former chancellor Mr Sunak also cut VAT on heat pumps to zero.
On Tuesday a government spokesperson rejected suggestions that applications for the boiler upgrade scheme were underwhelming.
He said: “We have had a significant number of applications to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme so far, in line with expectations given the scheme only opened to voucher applications in May.”
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