What is the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?
This is a UK Government scheme designed to help you afford renewable technologies for your home, such as:
The Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme will run from 1 August 2011 – 31 March 2012.
Householders will need to ensure they have basic energy efficiency measures in place before applying on 1st August and grants will be available on a first come first served basis.
From 1st August, grants for the following technologies will be available:
* Ground Source Heat Pump - £1250 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
* Biomass boiler - £950 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
* Air source heat pump - £850 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
* Solar thermal hot water panels - £300 grant (available to all households regardless of the type of heating system used)
£3m of the £15m will be set aside for registered social landlords to improve their housing stock. Details of how to apply for these funds will be announced at a later date.
Who can apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?
If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you are eligible to apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment.
No matter how you currently heat your home and how much fuel you already use, anyone can apply for solar thermal panels.
However, if you currently rely on oil, liquid gas, solid fuel or electricity then you could also apply for air, ground - or water - source heat pumps and biomass boilers.
So only those who do not currently use gas as their main heating fuel can apply for these technologies.
If you have any further questions about whether you can apply, please feel free to give one of Energy Saving Trust advisors a call on: 0800 512 012.
What do you have to do before applying?
- The property must be owned by you or if you are a tenant you must be purchasing the system yourself and have permission from the owner of the property
- Property must have loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation (where practical)
- You should have all necessary planning and environmental permissions in place
- Getting your home insulated is actually really easy and relatively cheap, so if you don’t already have a fully insulated house, check our Grants and Offers Database for cheap insulation offers or even grants!
Finally, not only is the scheme a great excuse to install technologies that will dramatically reduce your energy costs at home but the Government are also keen to learn as much as possible about renewable technologies. And for that they need your feedback.
As a requirement for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment you will be asked to submit information about how the technology you have installed is performing in its environment and you might be selected to have some monitoring equipment installed at the same time as your technology.
If you have got questions why not see if we have answered them in our -
How to apply?
If you’ve read the above carefully and you feel satisfied that you are eligible to apply for a Renewable Heat Premium Payment, you can apply for the scheme now >
What next?
If you meet all the criteria you will receive a voucher (time-scale dependent on the technology you are installing) and you will need to sign and return the voucher with a copy of the invoice from your installer and certificate from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (or equivalent) once you have installed your technology.
When everything has been checked and signed - you will receive the money directly into your bank account.
Other considerations:
- No vouchers will be valid beyond 31st March 2012 and the expiry date on your voucher may be earlier than this
- The offer is cash limiting. Once the budget for the scheme is reached (and there is a review point at £10m), there will be no more RHPP.
For further details and application for Payment: click here