NEW FUNDING AVAILABLE TO HELP HOME OWNERS INSTALL RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
The Heating Helpline says that the Government’s recent announcement about new grants available for renewable energy technologies is welcome news – especially for the near 4 million homes in the UK that are “off gas”.
4 September 2013 – The ‘green’ heating market is continuing to grow with an ever-rising number of households opting to install renewable technology. What is often overlooked is the sizeable number of ‘off gas’ properties in the UK – currently almost 4 million homes – many in rural areas. These households have to use oil, electricity, solid fuel or LPG to heat their homes, all fuels that historically have cost more than mains gas. A high proportion of these homes have oil-fired boilers and the very high cost of fuel oil over the last two years has pushed many of them into fuel poverty.
Heating Helpline, a free advice service operated by B&ES (the Building & Engineering Services Association) says that the long-term solution for these ’off gas’ households is to consider installing renewable energy technologies. It therefore welcomes the announcement from the Government that extra help is now available to make such an investment more affordable. As part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s pledge to support the growing market for domestic renewable heat, they have made changes to the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) household scheme resulting in new, higher voucher grant levels available for four eligible technologies. This additional money should encourage many more people to switch to renewable heating. The new levels are:
- Air Source Heat Pumps: £1300
- Ground Source Heat Pumps: £2300
- Biomass Boilers: £2000
- Solar Thermal Panels: £600
Applicants for this funding must first undertake a Green Deal Assessment before submitting a claim to the Energy Savings Trust. For help finding a Green Deal Assessor and for more information about the RHPP scheme, home owners can contact the Energy Saving Advice Service on 0300 123 1234.
For more information about the benefits of renewable energy technologies visit the Heating Helpline website at: http://www.heatinghelpline.org.uk.
Ends
Issued on behalf of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES) by Next Step Marketing Ltd
Media enquiries to: Heather Lambert. Tel: 44(0)1256 472020;
Fax: 44(0)1256 471010; E-mail: heather@nextstepmarketing.co.uk
Notes to editors
Since its formation in 1904, B&ES, the Building & Engineering Services Association (formerly the HVCA) has represented the interests of companies engaged in a wide range of building and engineering services including domestic heating and renewable technologies.
B&ES members are subject to regular, third-party inspection and assessment of their technical competence and commercial capability, carried out by an independent certification body at least every three years.
B&ES members who undertake gas installations are registered with Gas Safe – the gas safety watchdog body – and are also members of TrustMark, the Government-endorsed scheme designed to direct customers towards reliable tradespeople.
B&ES operates the Heating Helpline (http://www.heatinghelpline.org.uk) to provide consumers with free, impartial advice on every aspect of home heating.
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