£7600 Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF)

captainhindsight_2

Hello thought it might be useful to start a thread for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF), this starts in June and will hopefully be useful to lots of people. As an introduction here is a quote from DECC

Households carrying out energy efficiency improvements on their home can now get more money back to offset the cost of having the work done.

From June, people in England and Wales will be able to get up to £7600 back through a new Green Deal Home Improvement Fund so they can take control of their bills and have warmer, greener homes.

The scheme helps people to install energy efficiency measures such as solid wall insulation and new heating systems by providing them with money back on the contributions they make towards improvements.

It opens up the market for smaller businesses in the energy efficiency sector, competing in new and innovative ways and providing further opportunities for jobs and growth.

Green Deal Installers and Providers should register with the scheme now.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said:

“The best way for households to take control of their energy bills is to use less energy.

“Faulty boilers, draughty windows and insufficient insulation all cause properties to leak hundreds of pounds every year. But advice and support through the Green Deal can help put a stop to this.

“By installing energy saving improvements, families across the country can enjoy the benefits of warmer, more energy efficient homes and lower bills.”

The average annual bill saving from installing major measures such as solid wall insulation in a three-bed semi-detached house is £270, while savings from other measures such as upgrading a boiler can knock around £100 off a customer’s bill.

Under the new incentive scheme, which is available from June, domestic energy customers can get:

up to £1000 for installing two measures from an approved list; and/or
up to £6000 for installing solid wall insulation; and
up to £100 refunded for their Green Deal Assessment.
The scheme also entitles those who have bought a property in the 12 months prior to application to qualify for up to an additional £500 if they carry out energy efficiency improvements.

In December the government announced a £540 million three year energy efficiency package to make Britain’s homes and public buildings more energy efficient.

Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said:

“The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is another way the Government is making it simpler and cheaper for people to stay warm and improve their homes.

“I want households across the country to benefit from more energy efficient homes and reduced bills through the Green Deal, and that is what the new home incentive fund will do.”

The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund also applies to private or social landlords, who can benefit if they undertake to improve the property and are paying the costs themselves.

And for more info click here it shows a full list of what qualify s for the GDHIF.

EDIT: Just adding the full list of eligible measures here.

100% cash back up to £1000 for two of the below
-Condensing mains gas boiler
-Fan assisted storage heaters
-Flue gas heat recovery
-replacement warm air unit
-waste water heat recovery
-cavity wall insulation
-flat roof insulation
-floor insulation
-room in roof insulation
-double/triple glazing (replacing single glazing)
-secondary glazing
-energy efficient replacement doors

75% cash back upto £6000 for solid wall insulation

100% up to £100 for the cost of the green deal assessment

An additional £500 for home buyers who have bought the home in the last 12 months prior to application.

PasturesNew

Will they pay for a conservatory for me.... that'd make the patio doors lose less heat

penrhyn

Will this be a similar pile of Bovine excrement that is the current scheme?

This is where you pay an assessor £99, to borrow your watch who then tells you what time it is.

captainhindsight_2

penrhyn wrote: »

Will this be a similar pile of Bovine excrement that is the current scheme?

This is where you pay an assessor £99, to borrow your watch who then tells you what time it is.

If you could elaborate, maybe I could understand what your talking about.

The current Green Deal Cash Back scheme is cashback for installing individual measures which has proved very popular, where as this GDHIF is attempting to encourage people to carry out whole house improvements rather than just one thing at a time which is more inline with the original plans of the green deal.

lackingwedge

Thanks for the info Captain.

Had someone down for an assessment last week.
Currently my property is gutted as it is being converted from flats to a single dwelling so most of the stud walls as well as the electrics and old heating\hot water system had been ripped out (electric storage heaters and electric immersion tanks).

The assessor said he will struggle as there is no central heating system to compare against. also we have not moved in yet so he could not compare bills.
I informed him that he can find this information from the previous EPC and he sort of mumbled and shuffled off.

What I really want is help with solid wall and loft insulation as it is a pretty big property.

With regards to solid wall insulation, should this be done before or after Electrics and Central heating first fix or after?

I know that normally the insulation boards are "Stuck" to the wall, would it be better to use batons as this will create a void so that you can route unsightly cables ?
What of if i need to screw things to the wall such as TV brackets, pictures, will that cause an issue with the insulation and cause areas where moisture can get in and cause damp patches?

penrhyn

lackingwedge wrote: »

Thanks for the info Captain.

Had someone down for an assessment last week.
Currently my property is gutted as it is being converted from flats to a single dwelling so most of the stud walls as well as the electrics and old heating\hot water system had been ripped out (electric storage heaters and electric immersion tanks).

The assessor said he will struggle as there is no central heating system to compare against. also we have not moved in yet so he could not compare bills.
I informed him that he can find this information from the previous EPC and he sort of mumbled and shuffled off.

What I really want is help with solid wall and loft insulation as it is a pretty big property.

With regards to solid wall insulation, should this be done before or after Electrics and Central heating first fix or after?

I know that normally the insulation boards are "Stuck" to the wall, would it be better to use batons as this will create a void so that you can route unsightly cables ?
What of if i need to screw things to the wall such as TV brackets, pictures, will that cause an issue with the insulation and cause areas where moisture can get in and cause damp patches?

Some solid wall insulation systems are applied to the outside of the house, so does not make your rooms smaller.

lackingwedge

penrhyn wrote: »

Some solid wall insulation systems are applied to the outside of the house, so does not make your rooms smaller.

I don't think Solid wall insulation is possible for me as I live in a conservation area and I believe external solid wall insulation will require rendering on top.

Additionally The smallest bedroom\Living room in the house 5mx4m so reduced room size is not an issue.

I did some preliminary reading on interstitial condensation and feared putting in the insulation before the central heating and re-wire would cause an issue. Hence the question.

captainhindsight_2

lackingwedge wrote: »

Thanks for the info Captain.

Had someone down for an assessment last week.
Currently my property is gutted as it is being converted from flats to a single dwelling so most of the stud walls as well as the electrics and old heating\hot water system had been ripped out (electric storage heaters and electric immersion tanks).

The assessor said he will struggle as there is no central heating system to compare against. also we have not moved in yet so he could not compare bills.
I informed him that he can find this information from the previous EPC and he sort of mumbled and shuffled off.

What I really want is help with solid wall and loft insulation as it is a pretty big property.

With regards to solid wall insulation, should this be done before or after Electrics and Central heating first fix or after?

I know that normally the insulation boards are "Stuck" to the wall, would it be better to use batons as this will create a void so that you can route unsightly cables ?
What of if i need to screw things to the wall such as TV brackets, pictures, will that cause an issue with the insulation and cause areas where moisture can get in and cause damp patches?

Have you got the GDAR yet, or are you still waiting for that? (ask them to send you the XML file as well)

The condition of the house should be a goodthing, the fact that it has no central heating and is essentially a shell should mean that the report has more recommendations to be funded either through ECO or Green Deal Cash Back or Green Deal Home Improvement Fund.

In regards to the bills, he can just say no bill data available and it will just make assumptions, this bit is only important if you were going to take out a green deal finance plan as without the bill data the estimated bill savings will not be accurate.

You should carry out the first fix for electrics and plumbing and then get the insulation to be fitted, I wouldnt worry about hanging stuff on the walls the materials used are designed with this in mind and you just have to remember to use the correct fixings/screws etc.

Next step would be to get contact some green deal installers and send them the GDAR and the XML file and get some quotes for the work and then you can work out if your better of with ECO funding or using the home improvement fund for the insulation.

When you get the GDAR, if you could list the recommendations that are made I can give a bit more advice on what to do next and how to save the most about of money either through ECO or Cashback

lackingwedge

GDAR = Green Deal Assesment Report i take it?

Not got it yet, the assessment was only done as the end of last week. As soon as it arrives, I'll share the information here.

Thanks

lackingwedge

Hi, Just got the GDAR, these are the recommendations:

Internal Wall insulation
Floor Insulation
Fan assisted storage heaters
Solar PV.

There was no mention of Loft Insulation which is strange as there isn't any and he did not inspect the loft area anyway?

Should I contact him and make that point?

Smiley_Dan

Er, yeah. Are you sure there is no loft insulation... not in the roof (warm roof system)? Is it a flat roof?

If he didn't go up there maybe he assumed - what does the actual assessment of the roof insulation say? Normally on page 2 under "Summary of this home's energy performance related features".