What grants are available?

Air source heat pumps are eligible for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment which is a government initiative designed to help you afford renewable technologies for your home. (Exhaust air heat pumps are excluded) This scheme will run until the 31st March 2013.

Operating as a voucher scheme. You can claim £850 towards the cost of installing an air source heat pump for your home.

Renewable Heat Incentive for domestic households:

In the autumn of this year the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme is due to launch for domestic householders. This will operate on a similar basis to the feed-in tariff and it will pay you for every kWh that you generate. The rate has not been agreed nor has the way the scheme will operate. It has been agreed that everyone who has installed an eligible renewable heat technology since 15th July 2009 will be able to apply for the renewable heat incentive scheme when it is launched. Full details are not yet available.

Who can apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, and currently rely on oil, liquid gas, solid fuel or electricity as your main heating fuel then you are eligible to apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment for an air source heat pump.

If you use mains gas to hear your home the RHPP is not applicable.

• The property must be owned by you or if you are a tenant you must be purchasing the system yourself and have permission from the owner of the property
• Property must have loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation (where practical)
• You should have all necessary planning and environmental permissions in place
• Getting your home insulated is actually really easy and relatively cheap, so if you don’t already have a fully insulated house please contact us and we can provide you with information on how you can do this
• The product and installer you go with must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), Solar Keymark (or equivalent).

Finally, not only is the scheme a great excuse to install technologies that will dramatically reduce your energy costs at home but the Government are also keen to learn as much as possible about renewable technologies. And for that they need your feedback.

As a requirement for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment you will be asked to submit information about how the technology you have installed is performing in its environment and you might be selected to have some monitoring equipment installed at the same time as your technology.

What do you have to do before applying?