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

SkintDarkknight

ritzman said:

Would you be able to use the grant to install a heat pump and then also claim the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
I know there's limited info at present but with the RHI signup due to run to March 2022 i have calculated off the gov website that i could get a £10k ground heat pump and pay £2.5K and then receive £9.8K over 7 years from RHI

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is a heat pump compared to central heating boiler? Or are they the same thing?

Tiexen

SkintDarkknight said:

ritzman said:

Would you be able to use the grant to install a heat pump and then also claim the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
I know there's limited info at present but with the RHI signup due to run to March 2022 i have calculated off the gov website that i could get a £10k ground heat pump and pay £2.5K and then receive £9.8K over 7 years from RHI

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is a heat pump compared to central heating boiler? Or are they the same thing?

Heat pumps transfer heat by circulating a substance called a refrigerant through a cycle of evaporation and condensation. A compressor pumps the refrigerant between two heat exchanger coils. In one coil, the refrigerant is evaporated at low pressure and absorbs heat from its surroundings.

Its the same as Air conditioning but can also heat.

seradane

SkintDarkknight said:

ritzman said:

Would you be able to use the grant to install a heat pump and then also claim the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
I know there's limited info at present but with the RHI signup due to run to March 2022 i have calculated off the gov website that i could get a £10k ground heat pump and pay £2.5K and then receive £9.8K over 7 years from RHI

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is a heat pump compared to central heating boiler? Or are they the same thing?

The government is offering grants on the installation of air- and ground-source heat pumps. The premise is they take their energy from the temperature of the air or ground to heat your home, which means they are much more efficient at converting electricity to heat, although they are not quite "free" the way solar panels are once installed.

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/blog/air-source-heat-pumps-vs-ground-source-heat-pumps

CRISPIANNE3

Noticed on way home from City today there were a number of canvassers from Cisco Homes touting for business by knocking on residents doors.  Something we will have to get use to I suppose.

ritzman

SkintDarkknight said:

ritzman said:

Would you be able to use the grant to install a heat pump and then also claim the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
I know there's limited info at present but with the RHI signup due to run to March 2022 i have calculated off the gov website that i could get a £10k ground heat pump and pay £2.5K and then receive £9.8K over 7 years from RHI

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is a heat pump compared to central heating boiler? Or are they the same thing?

Not a dumb question...have only been finding out about them over the last couple of days.
They work a bit like a fridge/ac but in reverse and can be used to heat house either like a conventional boiler heating water or through hot air. They can be standalone system completely replacing your boiler or work alongside it.

SkintDarkknight

ritzman said:

SkintDarkknight said:

ritzman said:

Would you be able to use the grant to install a heat pump and then also claim the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
I know there's limited info at present but with the RHI signup due to run to March 2022 i have calculated off the gov website that i could get a £10k ground heat pump and pay £2.5K and then receive £9.8K over 7 years from RHI

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is a heat pump compared to central heating boiler? Or are they the same thing?

Not a dumb question...have only been finding out about them over the last couple of days.
They work a bit like a fridge/ac but in reverse and can be used to heat house either like a conventional boiler heating water or through hot air. They can be standalone system completely replacing your boiler or work alongside it.

So would I need one?
We've just had a new combi boiler installed

ritzman

SkintDarkknight said:

ritzman said:

SkintDarkknight said:

ritzman said:

Would you be able to use the grant to install a heat pump and then also claim the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
I know there's limited info at present but with the RHI signup due to run to March 2022 i have calculated off the gov website that i could get a £10k ground heat pump and pay £2.5K and then receive £9.8K over 7 years from RHI

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is a heat pump compared to central heating boiler? Or are they the same thing?

Not a dumb question...have only been finding out about them over the last couple of days.
They work a bit like a fridge/ac but in reverse and can be used to heat house either like a conventional boiler heating water or through hot air. They can be standalone system completely replacing your boiler or work alongside it.

So would I need one?
We've just had a new combi boiler installed

You don't 'need' one, certainly if just had a new boiler.
But if you want to reduce carbon footprint or maybe need a new boiler shortly then with these grants they might be worth a good look.

mavster2010

So any news on whether the scheme will support the installation of batteries for a PV system?
If not I'd be really interested if it covers solar thermal and you still get the RHI as well. Probably find solar thermal systems suddenly become very expensive.. :+)

seradane

SkintDarkknight said:

So would I need one?
We've just had a new combi boiler installed

I wouldn't say so unless you're really keen on the green credentials.

If you're using them to heat water for shower/baths, you will need a water tank, as they don't produce the instantaneous on-demand heat the same way a combi boiler does. If you use them in conjunction with your boiler then I suppose you wouldn't need that - but usually heat pumps serve as a replacement for your boiler. The lower output also makes them great for things like underfloor heating, which uses a smaller amount of energy over a longer period.

Heat pumps use electricity, which if your tariff is anything like mine, is about 3-4 times more expensive than gas. Now an ASHP is about 300% efficient, which means it cost 1/3 of the electricity than just running direct from the mains. GSHPs are better, I think about 400%. So if you compare it to a conventional gas boiler, it means that heat pumps are actually about equivalent in running costs as an efficient A-rated boiler. If you have an old, inefficient boiler, or are on another type of fuel, e.g. LPG, then heat pumps are likely to be considerably cheaper to run.

seradane

mavster2010 said:

So any news on whether the scheme will support the installation of batteries for a PV system?
If not I'd be really interested if it covers solar thermal and you still get the RHI as well. Probably find solar thermal systems suddenly become very expensive.. :+)

Doesn't sound like it... but who knows what might be announced before September.

Solar thermal is an odd one, I've looked at them before and they often seem quite hard to justify from a cost point of view. Maybe if you've currently got an immense heating bill? The RHI on ST is quite low now, and you can't use them to power any electrical items in your house - it's just heating only. And you still need to keep your boiler as they often aren't quite enough to cover the hot water demand especially through prolonged cold, overcast winters.

But I suppose if you get the vouchers and the RHI they might tip into just about break-even after 10 years...