New Green Homes Grant to give up to £5,000 in vouchers for insulation and double-glazing

johan46

kuepper said:

Underfloor insulation isn't listed as a trade at Trustmark

It is. In this page: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/find-a-tradesman select "Floor Insulation [B6 - 2017]" or "Floor Insulation [B6 - 2019]". Alternatively in this site https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/installer-search select "Floor insulation (for solid floor)" or "Floor insulation (for suspended floor)".

Only installers found with the above search will be eligible for the scheme. You'll not find many. No point in asking any other companies unless you want to try to convince them to get in the scheme.

jcontest

Good luck to anyone wanting a heat pump installed.  I tried in vain last year and couldn't find anyone in the North West (serving Warrington) who would come and do a install.  Now you need to jump through extra hoops to get the same product, so I would imagine most of what you'll get is the type of installers who will go insolvent the day this subsidy ends.  You will pay extra for it too, just as they seek to charge you about the same but milk off the top.

It's silly, Cavity Wall insulation could be had for free for years and years and if you didn't qualify (most did) then £400-£800 depending on house size.  I would expect that Cavity Wall insulation will now cost in the range of £1,200-£2,400 until the subsidy ends.  It's a bit odd it doesn't cover double glazing replacements too.  While the actual double glazing "glass" in my house is fine, the PVC has warped over the years on some of the windows, and the doors no longer seal great, I think they were 2002 (Adjustments are 100% in, plus one door has new-ish internals).  The really god MCS installers are hard to get ahold of, or stay heavily booked.  Some (and the ones you don't want) get around this by having someone certified to "inspect" the work, so the bad installers subcontract it to the regular people and then just say they inspected the work.  There's several non-compliant SolarPV installations near me (No double glazing, no Cavity Wall insulation, but they are on the new FIT's = Non compliant).

Good luck to the people to everyone trying for this, and congratulations to those who actually get everything done without hassle.

Dorl66

Ken68 said:

Had a call this morning, from an enquiry I made about 10 years ago.Some firm in Suffolk named Aran. My double glazing is getting on for 25 yrs old and he seemed to think new windows are on the cards.

Aran are genuine. They've done loft insulation for us and we're currently sitting on their quote for cavity wall insulation.

bobfredbob

@A1ps I'd be surprised if it's lack of insulation, only because most houses near me are old 1930s single-brick with air bricks (so cold air blows under the floorboards) and chimney, but still warm up fine.  But, perhaps your insulation is poor or weather is much colder.  I have external insulation now but it requires maintenance which costs more than any savings.

There are a few things you can check.  Most boilers have a setting "central heating flow temperature".  This is how hot the (central heating) water is (not the hot water coming out the tap).  So, on eco setting this is usually 67C since this gives you some money saving.  In winter, you can bump it up to max which is probably around 90C since older radiators expect very hot temperature unless they are over-sized for the room.

Radiators when warming up the room should feel hot all over and all radiators in the house should feel hot.  If they're only hot at the top then they may need bleeding.  If some radiator is red hot (in your room) and another is freezing cold (in child's room) then I think you may need to "rebalance" the radiators since they should all heat up from cold at the same rate.

Your boiler should be running (making a noise) all the time your house is warming up.  So, if your thermostat is 23C but you have a thermometer saying it only gets to 20C then is your boiler still running?  Perhaps your thermostat is in the wrong place?   Best place is, I think, roughly eye-height in the living room and not near the radiator or a window.

Our thermostat was one with a dial had become faulty and kept cutting off before hitting the temperature.  Perhaps that happens to you?  We could hear it "clicking" off then would click back on for a few minutes then off again.  They're usually easy to replace since it's just a couple of wires.

Only other long-shot I can think of is that maybe the TRVs (radiator valves with the numbers on) are faulty and cutting out too early.  I guess being a newish house maybe they cut costs.  Turn them all up to maximum and see if it makes a difference.

jcontest

PieCake said:

I just enquired about getting my 30 year old boiler replaced with a ground source or air source pump. these would cost between 15k and 20k . the max grant i could get would only be 10k and some of that would have to be used on insulation. The money i saves on bill would take 20 years to recoup the expense of installation. The installer said I'm better off just getting a combi boiler and paying for it myself. These low carbon footprint heating solutions are just too expensive and i don't see how anyone can benefit from this scheme.

Heat pumps would (If done correctly) allow you to get the RHI subsidy (I think, please check). Go https://www.gov.uk/renewable-heat-incentive-calculator to find out more.  They "should" overlap.  But per my previous post, You will find it nearly impossible to find someone willing to install this product.  I tried for years (probably 6~, gave up 2~ years ago) to get Micro-CHP installed.  It's amazing, the GOV scheme for it was withdrawn after about 6 years because no one was taking up the scheme, I think it was limited to 15,000 total installs!  The big energy providers had signed exclusive deals with the Micro-CHP manufactures but they all refused to do installs.  It's kinda like they didn't want users to have more efficient homes.  I think the cost (once certified) by the Gov was £7 per application.  So if a installer complains about the fees they need to pay for the MCS then don't feel too sorry for them.  I ended up getting a Combi boiler in the end, as  no one wanted to install underfloor heating or a Air/Ground source heat pump.  Please let me spend ~£20k with your company  - You would think it would get a phone call back, if they phone me now I'll tell them to .......

Dorl66

Yahoo_Mail said:

Dad1411 said:

Hello, applying for the New Green Homes grant today - trying to clarify as to wether spending as an example - 15k on  External wall insulation with the Voucher providing £5k am I then able to claim a secondary measure for an additional £5k ?

thanks in advance,

You get 5k in total.  If you spend that on primary measures then that's it.

So on that basis, if you have several primary measures on your list, you only get one lot of £5k (?). I was also wondering if I could do one primary measure for £5k then come back again for a second go, but having read the first 19 pages of this forum, it looks that I'd run out of time even if it was possible.

Dorl66

philupnorth1964 said:

Trustmare installers are a rip off I was quoted £1280 to do my loft & I measured it myself & I need £98 worth of insulation from Wickes so they want £1182 labour charge

We had our loft insulated and some boarding laid down a couple of years ago. The company was charging £20 for a pack of boards - we could have got the exactly the same product at B&Q for £8. Only saw that afterwards though...

highnal

So I managed to get a quote for external wall insulation (hurrah) but I think it’s via one of the supercontractor companies listed on the SimpleEnergyAdvice.gov.uk website. I filled out a form on their website stating what I’m looking for and afterwards I get an email from another company saying they’re partners with the company I initially contacted and they will be providing the quote and doing the work. The quote they gave is on a branded form for the original company. The new company is not Trustmark certified.

Is this how some companies are getting around all the hoops you need to jump through to be a supplier on this scheme? Pretty nervous about it as it doesn’t feel very legit!

LincsR

Having done my homework and obtained quotes from Trustmark registered installers I thought I was all prepared and ready to apply for solid floor insulation as soon as the scheme went live yesterday.  As it turns out, installers also have to have the relevant PAS certification as well as being Trustmark registered.  This is hidden away on the website and is not at all clear on first review of the site.  I phoned Simple Energy Advice who did not seem to have a clue who could and could not install the solid underfloor insulation that I require.  The operative explained that the scheme had 'only just gone live and they were 'not familiar with it yet'!!  I phoned Trustmark who were able to confirm that a contractor was required to have the relevant PAS certification as well as being Trustmark registered.  Hence my local builder (who is registered with Trustmark and I would have confidence in him doing a professional and tidy job) is not eligible for the work.  
As it turns out there are just 8 contractors in the whole of the UK who are eligible to carry out solid floor insulation (B6-2019) and none of there are near my home.  I live in Lincolnshire and the companies I was told to phone were based in Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Surrey!  How can travelling from Glasgow to Lincolnshire for a relatively small job be deemed as 'green' when I have a reliable and competent Trustmark registered contractor just 7 miles away ready and waiting to start the work?!  Also, what happens if there is a problem afterwards - would the contractor come back from Glasgow to sort it out or would he hide 280 miles away?  I think I know the answer and who I would trust the most to carry out the work in my 170 year old house!
I am currently waiting for 4 of the 8 companies to come back to me an arrange a quotation.  The other 4 did not wish to undertake the work.  I will be interested to see how much the contractors from Glasgow and Edinburgh quote in comparison to my local contractors 7 miles away!
Unfortunately it seems that this scheme provides a means to an end whereby the government can claim they are providing billions pounds worth of green home grants, when the reality is that very few people - either customers or contractors- truly benefit from it. 

Frith

I'm tentatively looking into this scheme. 
1840's former pit house, no central heating, 1 woodburning stove but new windows frames and front door already. I wonder what they'll make of that !