Big news for anyone interested in converting their home to renewable energy – the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has been talked about for a long time, and it was finally launched yesterday!

The RHI is a financial incentive designed to get more homes and businesses in the UK converting from fossil fuels to renewable heat. The benefits of this are blatant – no more oil or gas bills for the rest of your life! On top of this, renewable heat offers a more even, regulated heat (no boilers kicking in and going off).

However, some people have found the initial installation cost too much as a one off payment. This is where the Renewable Heat Incentive comes in:

“The tariffs will be paid for 20 years to eligible technologies that have installed since 15th July 2009 with payments being made for each kWh of renewable heat which is produced.”

Department for Energy & Climate Change

So,  if you have a ground source heat pump installed by an MCS accredited installer such as Lucion Energy, you would have no more oil or gas bills to pay for, your home would be heated, and you would be eligible to receive 4.3p on every KwH produced by your system (this is designed to cover your increased electricity costs, making your heating system cost neutral). On top of this, you could receive an upfront payment of up to £1250 for each ground source heat pump unit installed through the RHI Premium Payments scheme.

If space is at a premium and you’d prefer to have an air source heat pump installed, you would be eligiable to have £850 taken off the price of installing the unit. Unfortunately, as yet the government has not introduced any annual payments for the air source heat pump in the way they have for the ground source heat pumps, but such a reduction in cost of installation makes it still a sensible renewable solution to replace your existing boiler.

The details:

• RHI tariff payments will start for homes alongside the Green Deal from 2012 to allow a more whole-house approach to heat production and energy saving. 
• In the meantime, up to 25,000 installations from July will be supported by a “RHI Premium Payment” to help people cover the purchase price of green heating systems. Those taking up the Premium will then be eligible for a RHI tariff from October next year when the Green Deal begins, as will anyone else who has had eligible equipment installed from July 2009.
• For new build homes, an RHI tariff will be considered for the 2012 phase

For more information visit: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/PN2011_023/PN2011_023.aspx

Or call Lucion energy today on 0191 461 8999 to discuss the possibility of a bespoke renewable heat solution for your home.