FAQs

  • An air source heat pump absorbs heat from the environment, even when temperatures are well below freezing. It extracts heat from the air around us and transfers that heat to the inside of your home, keeping you warm and comfortable.

  • The Air-Source Heat Pump is a device that uses energy in the air to boil a refrigerant by passing air across an evaporator. The heat pump looks very similar to a traditional Air Conditioning unit.

    Heat pumps supply more energy than they consume, by extracting heat from their surroundings. Currently heat pump systems can supply as much as 3kW of heat output for just 1kW of energy input. They are used for commercial space heating, domestic heating and process heating.

  • Zero emissions – reduce your environmental impact

    The utilisation of natural, inexhaustible energy sources

    Efficiency: Renewable energy sources are up to 5 times more efficient than traditional energy sources, such as gas

Types Of Air Source Heat Pumps

  • The whole heat pump is enclosed within the casing. The heat pump is generally fitted on an outside wall with clear air flow across it. It can come in various power outputs, some models are single-fan units while others are twin-fan units. The unit is fitted onto rubber feet. Flow and Return pipes enter the building and connect into the central heating system.

  • The system is split with the outdoor evaporator being connected to the indoor unit with two pipes, one for gas refrigerant and one for liquid refrigerant. The outdoor unit can be located up to 30m away from the indoor unit. These systems are desirable if the customer doesn’t want the evaporator near the house or doesn’t have any suitable space.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)

  • The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) supports the decarbonisation of heat in buildings. It provides upfront capital grants to support the installation of heat pumps in homes and non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. Grants of £5000 are available for air source heat pumps (ASHPs) and grants of £6000 are available for ground source heat pumps (GSHPs). Grants are offered at a flat rate and do not vary by capacity of the installation, which must not exceed 45 kWth. The scheme opened for applications on 23 May 2022.

  • The scheme is designed to minimise the amount of work property owners need to do. It is ‘installer-led’, which means your chosen installer will:

    1. Make a BUS application on your behalf

    2. Liaise with Ofgem on most matters related to the scheme

    3. Tell Ofgem when they’ve installed your heating system

    4. Claim the money from Ofgem at the end of the project

    The grant value will be deducted from your quote upfront and we are responsible for passing on the discount that the BUS grant provides to you, the property owner.

BUS Grant Eligibility

  • Your eligibility for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is subject to meeting the criteria set out by the government. These include the following:

  • This must be no sooner than April 1st, 2022 and no later than the eventual closing date of the scheme, expected to be some time in 2025.

  • You must be in possession of a valid EPC issued within the past two years in respect of the property on which the work will be carried out. Furthermore, you must have implemented any outstanding recommendations on the EPC document for completing the insulation of your property to the required standard. This may include loft insulation to the recommended 270mm thickness, and / or cavity wall insulation. There may be exceptional circumstances such as a recognised risk of damp ingress in older properties of particular types of construction and in particularly wet locations that allow for an exemption from the normal requirement for cavity wall insulation.

  • either a home you already own and live in (known as an ‘owner-occupier’ home), or one of which you are the private landlord. Second homes are eligible, and some small commercial (‘non-domestic’) properties may also be eligible. Property owned by local councils and rented out as social housing is ineligible. New-build properties under construction by property development companies are also ineligible, whether or not they have already found buyers. Self-build properties whose construction is being overseen or carried out by a private owner intending to inhabit them without a property development company having owned them first may however be eligible for the scheme provided that the application is in respect of heat pump installations, and not biomass boilers.

  • The property must have an estimated total heat energy supply requirement of no more than 45 kWth (Kilowatts-thermal). This covers nearly all domestic properties but may exclude some exceptionally large mansions and converted former schools and churches.

  • The heat pump system being installed must be capable of fully meeting both the space heating requirements and the hot water requirements of the property in which it is being installed. This means that it is not permitted to install a cheaper heat pump system that only meets a fraction of the total energy needs of the property and then claim back its cost under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

  • The heat pump or biomass boiler system being installed must meet or exceed regulated efficiency standards for products of its class; in the case of biomass boilers, they must also meet standards for maximum levels of polluting emissions. Most new commercial products should meet the standards currently in force for efficiency and emissions, but if in doubt, please check with your supplier or installer that the products they are proposing to sell you or install at your property meet them.

  • The previous heating system at the property must be fossil fuel-based or based on mains electricity. It is not permitted to apply to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to replace an existing low-carbon heating system (e.g. solar thermal panels) with a new one, even if the new one is better and more comprehensive in its meeting of your domestic heating needs.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

  • An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC for short) rates the overall energy efficiency of your home on a scale represented by letters from A (very efficient) to G (very inefficient).

    Since 2009, it has been a legal requirement throughout the EU (including the UK) to provide a valid EPC at the time of sale or rent of a home.

    A previously issued EPC remains valid for ten years after it was issued.

  • Only an officially certified Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) or a Home Inspector (HI) who is also accredited by an accreditation scheme approved by central government has the authority to issue an EPC.

  • A computer program calculates your EPC rating using data entered by the DEA or HI following his or her visit to your property. This data may include:

    The type of property in relation to the space around it (flat, mid-terraced house, semi-detached house, detached house or bungalow)

    The age of the property

    The material construction of the walls of the property (solid brick, brick cavity, solid stone, concrete cavity, wood cavity, etc.)

    The material construction of the roof of the property (slate, ceramic tile, composite tile, thatch, etc.)

    The glass surface area and type of glazing (single, double, triple) in your glazed windows and doors

    The dimensions and internal air volume of the property

    The type and estimated power output of the lighting in the property

    The type and efficiency of your boiler, radiators and / or other systems used for heating rooms and water

    The depth of insulation in the roof

    The EPC calculations are based on certain assumptions about typical patterns of heating use, including heating most parts of the property to 18°C and some key living areas to 21°C for 77 hours per week

  • A typical EPC report will identify areas for possible improvement in efficiency and estimate the annual cost savings from taking specified remedial measures. These may include:

    Replacement of old boiler with an A-rated condensing boiler

    Replacement of single-glazed windows with new double glazing

    Increasing the depth of insulation in the roof void to 270mm

    Installation of solar panels on the roof to generate solar energy