Domestic RHI eligibility

Strummer22

We have just moved into a farmhouse with a separate apartment conversion above an adjacent barn. The house and apartment are attached but are separate dwellings, i.e., you have to go outside to go from one to the other, and the apartment is entirely self-contained, with its own kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms and living room. A family member lives in the apartment. The overall property has only one address. The main house has an EPC but the apartment doesn't.

We are having a GSHP installed to supply heating and hot water to the main house within the next two weeks. Based on the current EPC, the contractor said we need a 22kW GSHP which looks to be about the biggest on the market. Another renewables contractor has suggested that the main house demand might be more like 17kW and we could supply the apartment from the same GSHP as the house. The current EPC says more loft insulation is needed so we'll do this in order to claim RHI, that will reduce the heat demand a bit from the current EPC estimate.

Any thoughts as to whether it would work supplying both dwellings from the same GSHP, and if so would it be eligible for domestic RHI payments?

Edit: the other renewables contractor, who suggested both dwellings could be supplied from one GSHP, also suggested the apartment would be eligible for the Green Homes Grant for installing an ASHP. Again, is that within the rules if we already have RHI for the GSHP for a separate dwelling?

Reed_Richards

In order to claim the RHI:

1. You need an EPC that does not say you need more loft insulation.
2. You need an MCS accredited installer who will first do a detailed survey of your dwelling, assessing the heat loss from each room/area in order to correctly size the heat pump and also the radiators/UFH that go in.  This survey will tell you how big a heat pump you need, the EPC has nothing to do with that aspect.

I don't know about the apartment  If it is on the same Title Deeds as the rest of your property and you can get an EPC that includes it then I don't see the fact that it is physically separated from the rest of the building should be an issue.  But this is guesswork on my part.  

The Green Homes Grant no longer exists (if it's the Rishi Sunak one I am thinking about) and if it did the grant would have come off the RHI.  I imagine you only get the one RHI if you use multiple heat pumps; it would make things very complicated.

Strummer22

Thanks, we know about 1. - I neglected to say that we'll get a new EPC after topping up the loft insulation to 270mm.

The apartment is on the same Title and I don't see why we could not get an EPC including it. Not sure we have time to bring the apartment up to the required energy efficiency in time to apply for RHI, even if it was eligible and we could supply it from the same heat pump. We will ask our installer.

Reed_Richards

Strummer22 said:

The apartment is on the same Title and I don't see why we could not get an EPC including it. 

The reason why not is if it causes the EPC to "fail" after you have topped-up the loft insulation in your main dwelling.  You have very little time left to get all this done and you cannot afford any slip-ups.  I presume you are doing the loft insulation over the weekend and the EPC assessor is coming on Monday?