There have been two main driving forces behind a growing interest in installing new boilers, with both a carrot and a stick approach being offered.
Whilst there has been a lot more discussion about the latter, which took the form of a planned phasing out of gas boilers that looks increasingly unlikely to take place as originally described, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is becoming an increasingly popular example of the former.
With significant increases in people claiming deep discounts on biomass boilers and heat pumps, the BUS is something that can, if it is right for your home, potentially lead to savings both now and in the future.
It was previously not taken advantage of by that many people, in part because a lot of people looking to upgrade their boilers either did not know about it or did not know what qualified.
Here is a brief explanation of the boiler upgrade scheme to see if it is the right choice for you.
Green Energy Upgrade
People who have a boiler that is near the end of its operating life where repairs and inefficiencies are making it no longer worth keeping would often love to switch to potentially cheaper greener energy, but the problem with a lot of green energy systems is upfront cost.
Replacing your boiler with a like-for-like replacement is a lot cheaper than a biomass boiler and especially a heat pump, which has caused people to wait for the prices to go down. However, if there is not enough interest, the prices may never actually fall.
To counteract this, there is a government Boiler Upgrade Scheme that can cover part of the costs of replacing your boiler with a greener alternative.
At present, the three grants available are:
- Up to £5,000 to install a biomass boiler in certain conditions.
- Up to £7,500 to install a ground source heat pump, which can include water source heat pumps and some shared systems).
- Up to £7,500 to install an air source heat pump system.
Only one grant is available per property, which makes sense since having more than one system is somewhat redundant.
People need to own the property they are applying for, so tenants cannot get a grant for properties they are renting, and it needs to replace a fossil fuel heating system or a conventional electric boiler that is powered by the national grid.
Taking advantage of other green energy grants such as insulation funding does not make you ineligible, although once the grant is approved, it must be commissioned and installed within 120 days (roughly four months) or it will become ineligible.
Biomass boilers are a bit more complex, and generally can only be applied for if a property is in a rural location, is not connected to the National Grid for gas, and the boiler has an emissions certificate that ensures that its carbon emissions are as low as possible.
Social housing and under-construction new builds cannot get grants, and in the latter’s case, this is typically because they are already designed with energy efficiency in mind. If it has just been completed with a fossil fuel boiler a homeowner may be able to get a grant for a heat pump.
