Biomass Boilers Government Scheme

Robwiz

captainhindsight wrote: »

If he is having an eta or frolling he will have no problems!

That's an exaggeration. He may have fewer problems, or possibly the problems may occur later in the boiler's life. But 'no problems' is extremely unlikely over a 20 year service life. And just like cars, a boiler that is expensive to buy will have high parts costs.

Let's face the facts, the people who have done well from biomass are mostly in agriculture – a key part of their business is obtaining government grants and subsidies, they write down the capital costs and maintenance expense against their profits and the scale of their business is more valuable to an installer than a small domestic job.

Anyone considering investing in biomass should do thorough research. This is a good write up which gives an idea of the issues involved.

captainhindsight_2

Robwiz wrote: »

That's an exaggeration. He may have fewer problems, or possibly the problems may occur later in the boiler's life. But 'no problems' is extremely unlikely over a 20 year service life. And just like cars, a boiler that is expensive to buy will have high parts costs.

Let's face the facts, the people who have done well from biomass are mostly in agriculture – a key part of their business is obtaining government grants and subsidies, they write down the capital costs and maintenance expense against their profits and the scale of their business is more valuable to an installer than a small domestic job.

Anyone considering investing in biomass should do thorough research. This is a good write up which gives an idea of the issues involved.

That article was written 6 years ago, a lot has changed in 6 years...

The commercial applications of biomass are the situations where the most money has been made and saved. Even where they are replacing mains gas, because they will use chip not pellets which are significantly cheaper, even cheaper than mains gas.

Typical applications are farms, offices, manufacturing, catering, schools, leisure centres etc

This does not mean that small/normal domestic houses cannot benefit because they can, I think the cut of period would be about a 20,000 kWh heat demand which would exclude very small homes or very well insulated homes at which point an air source heat pump would be more appropriate.

Smiley_Dan

thenudeone wrote: »

The MAXIMUM RHI you can ever receive is capped at the calculated heat usage that your property requires (based on its size, materials, and insulation) as shown on its EPC.

For a normal domestic property with single renewable supply (ASHP, GSHP or Biomass) the RHI payment is fixed; regardless of how much heat you actually use. There is no requirement for heat metering. This system actually deters these people heating more than they need to, in the hope of getting more RHI, because they won't.

But it doesn't deter them from trying to maximise the estimated requirement on the EPC. Who does the EPC? Oh, the guys the installers recommend. Hmmm... I'm sure that wouldn't happen really. Really. No, I've never heard of any kind of corruption amongst MCS certified bodies.

Furthermore it discourages energy efficiency improvements before the install.

There are a few occasions where the statement may be true, for example a landlord may decide to heat an empty house to 21C to get more RHI, when he/she would otherwise have left the thermostat much lower; but the profit isn't great, because the electricity or pellets still have to be paid for. But such an eventuality is almost impossible to prevent.

The more complex the scheme, the more likely there will be loopholes.

pambler

captainhindsight wrote: »

If he is having an eta or frolling he will have no problems!

I have spoken to him a bit more on the subject now - they are having an ETA, and the figures he was quoted were exactly those you have shown. The supplier has also put him in touch with several customers with similar installations, and he has been to visit one of them (obviously I know they wouldn't give him unhappy customer details!) and seen the system running.

From what he said much of the maintenance is managed remotely by the installer. Anyway, I feel a bit more comfortable now that he is not being ripped off by a fly by night company!

captainhindsight_2

pambler wrote: »

I have spoken to him a bit more on the subject now - they are having an ETA, and the figures he was quoted were exactly those you have shown. The supplier has also put him in touch with several customers with similar installations, and he has been to visit one of them (obviously I know they wouldn't give him unhappy customer details!) and seen the system running.

From what he said much of the maintenance is managed remotely by the installer. Anyway, I feel a bit more comfortable now that he is not being ripped off by a fly by night company!

Yes with the eta and frolling they have remote monitoring equipment so they will actually know if something is wrong before the occupier would and notify you by email or by an engineer appearing to fix the problem. They are very advanced systems! hope it goes well for him

Robwiz

captainhindsight wrote: »

That article was written 6 years ago, a lot has changed in 6 years...

Wrong again! If you care to scroll down the page and read it all, you'll see it's a careful buyer's story updated at regular intervals through to 2014.

I would suggest that the technical issues covered are still highly relevant and this case study is a worthwhile read for anyone carrying out due diligence before committing to biomass heating.

captainhindsight_2

Robwiz wrote: »

Wrong again! If you care to scroll down the page and read it all, you'll see it's a careful buyer's story updated at regular intervals through to 2014.

I would suggest that the technical issues covered are still highly relevant and this case study is a worthwhile read for anyone carrying out due diligence before committing to biomass heating.

Wrong Again!!!

The install was 2008-2009.

Cardew

That article was written 6 years ago,

Wrong again! If you care to scroll down the page and read it all, you'll see it's a careful buyer's story updated at regular intervals through to 2014.

captainhindsight_2

Cardew wrote: »

That article was written 6 years ago,

You two stop being trolls and get something better to do

Silent_Dancer

Domestic RHI is capped according a calculated value on the EPC. The problems lie in commercial RHI. This is metered and limitless. I am aware of chicken farmers who leave biomass boilers on all the time even when sheds have been cleared after slaughter. I know of a commercial landlord who has been installing biomass into his properties and heating them whilst they are vacant. Apparently he gets a better return on this than letting them. Is it right that businesses are profiting from wasting heat?

The reason why the domestic RHI money has been going so quickly is that it lends itself to big drafty mansions. Is it right that the owner of a mansion is being paid taxpayers money to heat their home?