Online Q&A: "Subsidies and heat pumps" - 13 January 2022
The government is cutting the subsidies available for domestic heat pumps from next March. The current grant scheme, Renewable Heat Incentive, can pay households more than £10,000 to help install low-carbon heating systems. It will be replaced by the simpler Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which will offer capital grants of up to £5,000 to property owners.
The government has funded the BUS for 90,000 homes over three years. There are nearly 30 million homes in the UK so we expect this grant to run out quickly.
Come along to our online event on 13th Jan 2022 to learn more about installing heat pumps and the costs and funding options available. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.
The event will have some great speakers: Bean Beanland from the Heat Pump Federation who has a wealth of experience and knowledge about heat pumps; Colin Meek from rb&m consultants who is a research and policy expert on heat pumps and was previously a senior researcher at Which?; and a local homeowner who has recently switched from an oil heating system to an air source heat pump.
Open day - 5 December 2021
PeCAN trustee, Louise Bevan, and her husband Charles were recently featured in a Which? magazine article about heat pumps. Louise helped to set up PeCAN's Petersfield Area SuperHomes project.
On 5 December 2021, Louise and Charles kindly hosted an open house for people interested in seeing a heat pump first hand between 11am and 4pm at their home in central Petersfield.
Which? magazine has kindly allowed us to reproduce the text of their article here:
"Charles and Louise Bevan installed an air-source heat pump (ASHP) in their four-bedroom house in September 2020. As it’s Grade-II listed, they needed planning permission. Installation took just under five days and cost almost £14,000. That included a 14kW ASHP, combination cylinder tank, wiring, plumbing and fittings.
"At first, they set the thermostat to 21.5°C (day) and 18°C (night), which was very comfortable, but more than doubled their electricity bills. Quickly realising this, they reset it to 19°C and 16°C, and they’re now seeing a small overall saving.The house is reasonably energy efficient, with double and/or secondary glazing, loft insulation and modern radiators. Otherwise, the running costs would likely be much higher.
"The Bevans chose an ASHP for environmental reasons, and to take advantage of Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) payments. They expect about £1,500 a year for seven years – around £10,500 in total. Overall they say it meets their expectations. ‘We would do it again. It does take some getting used to, as it’s more complicated to use than gas central heating. Our main advice to anyone considering it is to use a competent installer’. Any downsides? ‘The heat pump and tank do take up space, and it’s a bit noisier than the gas boiler’."