New BUS extension - £2500 Grant for Air to Air Heat Pump / Air Con units

Scot_39

Posted this on the Air Source Heat Pumps Page - but people might only be loking their for wet systems - so reposted here - will delete if required.

On the front page of todays The Times - from the BBC website Papers Page

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czr157nzvygo

"Households will be able to get £2500 grant for Air Con"

And the actual official govt announcement

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/discounts-for-families-to-keep-warm-in-winter-and-cool-in-summer

squiz18

Thats great news, thanks for sharing. Buying a house and we're looking at air con so this will be very useful. 

matt_drummer

Is it great news?

The rules of the BUS grant

You’re eligible for a grant if both of the following are true. You must:

• own the property you’re applying for (including if it’s a business, a second home, or a property you rent out to tenants)

• be replacing fossil fuel heating systems - such as oil, gas, electric or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)

I don't think anybody will be getting a grant of £2,500 just to add air conditioning to their pad!

Scot_39

squiz18 said:

Thats great news, thanks for sharing. Buying a house and we're looking at air con so this will be very useful. 

You do realise its a "boiler upgrade scheme" grant - you have to be replacing old heating - not just wanting air con.

I wonder how much you would have to do - all heating - main areas etc.

And then I suppose there are all the insulation conditions etc as per the £7500 wet grant.

And remember you will still need alt hot water heating - these are not proper ASHP that can do both.

Netexporter

The grant for heat batteries is good news for people in flats, where heat pumps aren't generally feasible.

QrizB

Netexporter said:

The grant for heat batteries is good news for people in flats, where heat pumps aren't generally feasible.

Without this grant, heat batteries are currently more expensive than electrical batteries. Electrical batteries meanwhile are far more flexible; try plugging your kettle into a heat battery, for example.

It'll be interesting to see whether the grant (and all the associated admin) changes the economics, but I don't see it saving heat batteries from obsolescence.

Edit to add an example.

Tepeo ZEB - 40kWh heat battery, £6k. £150/kWh.

https://www.tepeo.com/

vs.

Fogstar 32kWh storage battery, £2985. £93/kWh.

https://www.bimblesolar.com/batteries/48vbatts/fogstar-house/fogstar-48v-32kwh

sheenas

Heat Batteries? Regulations for home solar batteries focus on fire safety, recommending outdoor installations like garages or utility rooms, away from habitable spaces and escape routes.
So on the back of that safety advice we can get a grant to install something that is not really recommend, don't these people talk to each other?

Before anyone asks it's been reported only this month the Solar & Battery Fires have exceeded the number of new installations for the first time. Agreed that is mostly due to poor installation & Maintenance but the recommendations should be carefully considered. 

matt_drummer

sheenas said:

Heat Batteries? Regulations for home solar batteries focus on fire safety, recommending outdoor installations like garages or utility rooms, away from habitable spaces and escape routes.
So on the back of that safety advice we can get a grant to install something that is not really recommend, don't these people talk to each other?

Before anyone asks it's been reported only this month the Solar & Battery Fires have exceeded the number of new installations for the first time. Agreed that is mostly due to poor installation & Maintenance but the recommendations should be carefully considered. 

Not what you think, they store hot water.

QrizB

matt_drummer said:

sheenas said:

Heat Batteries? Regulations for home solar batteries focus on fire safety, recommending outdoor installations like garages or utility rooms, away from habitable spaces and escape routes.
So on the back of that safety advice we can get a grant to install something that is not really recommend, don't these people talk to each other?

Not what you think, they store hot water.

Or hot rocks, or phase-change gel, or whatever. Hot stuff that you can take the heat out of later.

A bit.like storage heaters, which have been used successfully and without drama for 50 years or so.

wrf12345

Surprised the Greenies have not called for a ban on hot water, cold showers were the basis of the British empire back in the day and could save billions in NHS costs as they help with dysfunctional mitochondria...

Heat battery costs versus home batteries (which can get the cheap electric to power cheap hot water cylinders and possibly the rest of the house), the latter due to radically fall in price as sodium battery production ramps up in China, is an interesting question. And the govn is also talking about grants focussed on solar/home batteries going forward.

Screwdriva

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/discounts-for-families-to-keep-warm-in-winter-and-cool-in-summer?

I'm not sure:

1) If the Boiler needs to be scrapped to receive the £2500? If so, how will they heat hot water? 

 2) How much of this savings will make its way to the end consumer in the real world?