Boiler upgrade scheme

Boiler scrappage cashback

In addition to the BUS, Daikin UK is offering homeowners £500 boiler scrappage cashback when they switch their old oil, LPG or solid fuel boilers for a Daikin heat pump. That’s effectively another 10 per cent on top of the BUS grant.

More information on the BUS and boiler scrappage cashback at: www.daikin.

co.uk/en_gb/energy-forchange/residential/ funding-hub.html

Boiler Upgrade Scheme: what you need to know

Iain Bevan, Daikin’s commercial manager, heating & renewables, sets out how the scheme will work and how heating engineers can get involved.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is due to be introduced in England and Wales this spring after the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme comes to an end on 31 March.

Having a good understanding of the incoming BUS means you’ll be able to help secure funding for new heat pump customers when the incentives switch over.

While the heat pump market has enjoyed steady growth, estimates reckon that 17,000 new heat pump installers will be required in the next decade to deliver on the government’s ambitious target of 600,000 installations a year by 2028.

Early adopters need support and encouragement over and above financial incentives so that they can enter the world of renewable home heating with confidence. And that comes down to having a highly trained, manufacturer-endorsed heating engineer with a proven track record, who can walk them through the entire process – including funding – and who will get the install and the associated paperwork right first time. This includes clearly explaining the energy efficiency and cost savings that homeowners will enjoy throughout their new system’s lifetime.

What is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)?

The BUS will provide upfront capital grants of £5,000 to support the installation of air source heat pumps, and £6,000 for ground source heat pumps, in homes and some non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. Biomass boilers are also eligible for £5,000 grants in some circumstances.

The scheme will support the installation of 90,000 heat pumps, and applications will be open from spring for three years. Hybrid systems are not eligible.

The BUS will not be available in Scotland, but homeowners will instead be able to apply for a Home Energy Scotland Cashback & Loan Scheme.

Who will administer payments?

Ofgem is the intended administrator for the BUS scheme. It will be responsible for assessing applications, fulfilling grant payments and carrying out audits and compliance public reporting.

What’s the process?

The BUS is installer-led rather than by homeowners. The installer will apply to Ofgem for the grant after receiving instructions from the property owner to carry out the installation, and provide all the necessary information.

Once Ofgem has completed the assessment, confirmed homeowner consent and is satisfied with the application, the voucher will be issued to the installer.

When installation is complete, the installer then applies to redeem the voucher and Ofgem assesses the redemption application before paying the grant to the installer.

The £5,000 is then taken off the invoice sent to the homeowner.

To be eligible for the BUS, both the installers and products installed must be MCS-certified. Domestic and non-domestic buildings are eligible, including self-builds, as long as the plant is new at the time of installation.

The heat source replacing a fossil-fuelled system must be either an air or ground source heat pump with a minimum seasonal coefficient performance of 2.8. It must meet full space heating and hot water requirements and have a 45kW/h total capacity limit, including for shared ground loop systems.

Biomass boilers are eligible only in rural areas and in properties not fuelled by mains gas.

When will I get paid?

Installers will need to create a BUS account before applying for their first voucher. When the voucher has been issued, the installer must submit a redemption application within the voucher validity period, in order to receive the grant amount.

Ofgem intends to make the payment to the installer within a week of receiving the successful application, and installer payment cycles will run on a weekly basis. n