JCH London

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme – 12.01.2017

Here we take a look at the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme and look to see if this is the right way to encourage UK homemakers to switch to renewable energy.

The concept of renewable heat incentive has been introduced by the UK government to encourage homemakers to switch to renewable heat energy alternatives. The government is more inclined to come out with such a move mainly because it aims to meet the 2020 15% renewable energy goal. In other words, it simply goes to mean that 15% of all of the UK’s energy ought to be produced by renewable sources.

Currently, the UK is lagging behind from its European counterparts and is believed to have one of the lowest contributions towards renewable heat. It is country like Sweden that is credited for producing half of its heat through renewable energy. It may be noted, heating presently accounts for almost 60 per cent of the average domestic energy bills and 47 per cent of the UK’s CO2 emissions. By introducing the concept of rhi incentive, the UK government aims to encourage the use of the alternative sources of producing the household heating. This is the sole and exclusive reason why it has introduced the idea to go ahead it domestic rhi plan.

The specialty of the scheme is – it encourages the UK households to make a switch over to renewable energies rather than use the traditional fossil fuel burning boilers. Typically speaking, the ideal renewable energy options include things like solar water heating,solar thermal heating, use of solar thermal panels, air source heating, wood fuel boilers, solar thermal installers, etc. Individuals who resort to adopting such an option are entitled to receive a fixed amount per year from the government. When it comes to the amount to be paid, this is either the amount of the heat produced or the estimated amount. This scheme was introduced way back in July 2011 and has become a major hit among households.

There are logical reasons why the government has gone to walk the extra mile. For instance, it is a well-known fact that an air source heat pump generally works just by absorbing heat from the outside air exactly the way a fridge does. It does extract the heat in temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees. This is entirely different from gas or oil boilers as the heat pumps heat over a prolonged period of time and that also at lower temperature.

Of course, if you intend to get an air source heat pump installed at your house, there are a few things you ought to consider before doing so. To begin with, you need to make sure you do have some space outside your house. This is important as you will require such space to install the unit where it can be fitted freely to a wall or free-standing. More and more people are showing an increased fascination for an air source heat pump as it offers heat for a prolonged period. Not only this, this has proved to be highly effective provided your house is well insulated and drought –proofed.

The growing popularity of the scheme stems from the simple fact that replacing an electricity or coal heating system with an air source heat up brings loads of monetary savings as well. Of course, such heat pumps are neither normally nor suggested for homes on the gas network.