Air Pump Grants

[CardinalWolsey]

Hi everyone.

Does anyone know anything about the grants available to install air pump central heating?

I've looked at the Government website and the Energy Trust site, and can't find an answer to my question - does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme only relate to replacing existing central heating boilers?

I know that sounds like a daft question, and that the clue is in the name, and that the answer is obviously yes.

But having gone through the Government's questionnaire about it, and the info from the ET, I've come away wondering, because neither appears to stipulate that your previous means of heating had to come from a boiler.

And if it does, is there another scheme for a grant to install an air pump?

Thank you! 😊

"Through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, you could get a grant to cover part of the cost of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with a heat pump or biomass boiler.

Fossil fuel heating systems include oil, gas or electric"

So no, you don't need to have a boiler, but you need to be using fossil fuels. Are you burning coal or something weird like that?

Thanks @MojoMoon.

No, I have gas wall heaters and plug in oil filled radiators. I wouldn't call them a heating system as such.

I had the impression that you had to have some sort of central heating with a boiler to upgrade, but it's very vague, and the upgrade could be from something else to a boiler, and I wondered if anyone knew for sure.

You've come to the same conclusion as I have, I'm just not sure it's the right one! I seem to remember the last time I looked into it that you needed to have a system taking it round the house to attach it to.

Perhaps I could install that first?! It's a grant of £7500, and I could really do with that. 🙂 It seems unfair too if it's only people who already have central heating that would be eligible.

You will be able to claim the grant but at 7.5k, it will not be enough to cover all the works you need doing if you have to put in place radiators/underfloor heat, cylinder and pipework. 7.5k covers the cost of the heat pump alone roughly - so any additional work required is not covered.
For example when I got my ASHP fitted last year, I also moved the hot water cylinder out of the way into the loft to free up some space in a bedroom and replaced it with a modern cylinder. The total bill for all the works was higher than 7.5k so I paid the difference.

You don't actually claim the money, your installer does. They need to be MCS registered and registered to claim for the boiler upgrade scheme. They claim the money, you will be sent an email asking you to confirm the work is taking place.

You need to find a good installer to design a coherent heating system for your home - which would include fitting the pipework and radiators. It needs to be designed with ASHP in mind, not all radiators and pipework are suitable (eg not microbore pipework).
Air source heat pumps are "wet" heating eg they heat up water that flows around radiators or underfloor heating so you will need that in place.

I recommend finding a company that is Heat Geek trained as that is the most rigorous training course and getting them to design and install the full system. They will all be able to claim the 7.5k as well.
https://www.heatgeek.com/find-a-heat-geek/

That's great, thank you very much.

I'm going for underfloor heating and am happy just to have some money off the bill!

You might be eligible for ECO4 grant scheme depending on your home's current Energy Performance Certificate and your income. You can ask through any large energy company running it, not just the one you're with:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/energy-company-obligation-eco/homeowners-and-tenants/faqs-domestic-consumers-and-landlords

I'm currently going through the process and they're very keen on putting in air source heat pumps, and my house was already all electric with no boiler.

Thanks @RamblingEclectic - the EPC is a D now as I got some insulation fitted which took it out of E.

have you seen Octopus energy , they are now making air source heat pumps, I am not quite ready for one yet so can’t recommend but it may be worth a look

They're my energy company, and I've signed up but they're not doing them where I live yet unfortunately.

Sorry, I know this thread is a bit old. We already have a heat pump but its likely to be end of life over the next few years. Does the grant cover a re installation of a heat pump system?