The Boiler Upgrade Scheme – The RHI Replacement from April 2022
The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (Domestic RHI) was started in April of 2014 as an incentive to encourage people to move away from fossil fuels and increase the uptake of renewable energy sources. Participants would be paid quarterly, for seven years, based off the amount of clean energy that their new green energy system creates. This scheme has been a success and has seen just shy of 100,000 renewable heating systems be installed. The renewable heat incentive is due to end on the 31st of March 2022 so this article will talk you through the replacement scheme that the government is bringing in to encourage domestic renewables.
The Clean Heat Grant = The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (Clearing up the confusion)
The boiler upgrade scheme was referred to as the clean heat grant when it was first announced, it’s worth mentioning this because the details can be confusing regarding which grants you might be eligible for. Since the name change on the 19th of October 2021, take any mention of the clean heat grant to be referring to the same thing as the boiler upgrade scheme.
What is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?
The boiler upgrade scheme will launch in April 2022, with a backing of £450m from the government. The aim is to provide grants of £5-6,000 to homeowners interested in the move towards low-carbon heating sources. By offering this grant, the aim is to reduce the barrier to entry for most households – this ensures that a heat pump installation should be a comparable price to a new boiler.
The scheme will run until April 2025 at which point a new initiative will most likely take its place. By looking at the figures for the boiler upgrade scheme, the grant will cover an estimated 90,000 installations with the initial funding– a little short of the 600,000 yearly heat pump installations that the government is aiming for by 2028. Due to the ongoing pledges regarding a move towards a net-neutral country, it’s likely that the funding will be increased in some form over the coming years to sustain this industry growth.
What does the scheme cover?
The grants will be available for the purchase of ground / air source heat pumps and will also be available for homeowners investing in biomass boilers too (but only in rural areas. These boilers aren’t to be offered in urban areas).
These three options aren’t equal though – the government has also said that installations of air source heat pumps will receive more funding in relation to the cost of the fitting. This is because ASHP’s are suitable for most properties. To learn more about these heating systems click here.
Who is eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?
The scheme is being made as accessible as possible to all homeowners and landlords. The only prerequisite is the holding of a valid Energy Performance Certificate, ideally less than ten years old. If the certificate recommends loft or cavity wall insulation, then this might influence your eligibility until you’ve taken steps to correct this. Applications for the scheme will still be accepted if there are recommendations outstanding, as long as the insulation will have been fitted by the time that it comes to actually installing the heat pumps.
Warmaway will continue to keep abreast of the changing schemes, grants and regulations and we’ll be sure to provide regular updates as they’re announced so check back to your blog page regularly.
