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14 September, 2021 at 12:09 pm #1141804
“The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (Domestic RHI) is a government financial incentive to promote the use of renewable heat. Switching to heating systems that use eligible energy sources can help the UK reduce its carbon emissions and meet its renewable energy targets.
You could get money towards renewable heating costs in your home.
You can claim for:
- biomass boilers
- solar water heating
- certain heat pumps
Payments are made for 7 years and are based on the amount of renewable heat made by your heating system.
The money is paid through the Domestic <abbr title=”Renewable Heat Incentive”>RHI scheme ”
There seems to be a little confusion over the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
I’m going to try and clear this up.
If you live in a 1 or 2 bed flat An air source heat pump is a good idea. You get air conditioning a long with heating. Its not designed to run 24/7 and really just for working people without kids.
Due to the high numbers of people living in flats within cites this is the main focus of the media right now. They seem fixated on this type of home heating mainly cos this is the type most of the “loveys” will be forced to have.
I’m not a fan of this system. Its been used for years on office blocks and shops…but few of theses places are open 24/7.
Ground source heat pumps started coming in about 20 years ago from France. They work well if you have a big garden or plenty of land like the French do. Not so well in small gardens like we have in the UK.
They work best with under floor heating…they will work with radiators but not the cheap crappy ones you find at a diy store and most people have.
Solar water heating…..I think we have all seen theses in Spain or Greece. Not really any good for the UK due to the weather.
Biomass …. this is the system I use at home. I find it easy and cheap to run. I use a gasification system and there not much different to my old gas system. But down here on the south coast where it never really gets cold its hard to tell how good they are in a real northern winter.
And I feel this is where the Domestic <abbr title=”Renewable Heat Incentive”>RHI scheme fails. The money should be going on energy efficient radiators and not new heating systems. You can put in the best zero emissions heater in the world…but if you are using crappy radiators you wont feel warm. Comfort heating is the key.
14 September, 2021 at 1:37 pm #1141808Fishy,
While I applaud your attempt to bring this subject in to the JC domain, I must question the accuracy of your data. As an example, you’ve almost totally discounted Ground Sourced heat pumps because of the area of garden they need to install the underground pipes.
The favoured method in this country is to use a bore hole whereby the pipes are vertically installed in the ground, not the horizontal way in which you describe, A borehole installation takes up far less footprint and is less affected by seasonal changes.
As for your preference for biomass heating: well, if i had a choice in changing from my gas fired boiler to a green solution, I would choose a ground sourced heat pump everytime because the heat source is totally free and totally green and doesn’t rely on so called ‘sustainable’ biomass fuel sources (trees etc). The only energy needed as in all cases is the electricity to pump the system. The installation cost of all of these green systems is another matter and that is where I believe the Government should be driving industry to bring affordable systems to market if it is to meet it’s climate change targets.
You are right about more efficient radiators. In fact increases in efficiency are needed in the whole thermal supply chain and particularly when it comes to better insulation of our houses, new and old.
- This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by cooldandywarhol.
14 September, 2021 at 2:30 pm #1141812Hmmmmmmmmmmm
I first saw information on ground sourced heat pumps back in 2002. It was in a hand out from CIPHE and sent out with there magazine.
Since then I’ve spoken to a few UK owners who live in France. There view was the “bore hole” system was crap and favoured the trench system.
As we all know if you drill down into the ground things start to warm up…..but we’re talking 1/2 mile not 10 meters. And that’s why key to ground source heat pumps is surface area not depth. If it was depth…. no one would use the trench system.
Basically ground source heat pumps work on the same principles as the old ice houses.
As for the cost… well……. I hate to say this but its about the same as installing a gas system back in the 1970’s. Your putting in a whole new system not just a boiler. While swapping over a boiler mite cost between 1 or 2 grand……..ripping out the whole system and re piping will cost a hell of a lot more. Your looking at 8-10k for a complete replacement system for gas.
Before putting in any new heating system, always talk to someone who got it. It will save you a lot of time and money.
Bio mass works for me due to my location. I have access to all kinds of waste wood and paper locally and I have space for the system.
It mite not work for you.
14 September, 2021 at 2:56 pm #1141813Boreholes are not ‘crap’ fishy. They work well and you don’t have to go down half a mile. I’m getting tired of your false information.
You’re burning biomass. You’re producing greenhouse gas. Maybe not as much as a coal fired powerstation but you’re BURNING fossil fuel.
As i said, the way forward is for the government to get behind industry to drive the technology and the installation costs down.
Watch the video mate. I trust him more than I trust you.
14 September, 2021 at 3:46 pm #1141815Well you clearly dont get my point …..
So being a bit of a feminist I’m going to let Chatguide Le tell you why your wrong :)
(Her mum had one put in )
14 September, 2021 at 3:51 pm #1141816Can’t wait.
14 September, 2021 at 4:04 pm #1141817My understanding is that air source heat pumps are more or less useless as heaters as when it is cold outside (when you usually would want heating) there is very little heat energy that can be extracted from the air.
They work fine as air conditioners, but for heating they aren’t much more efficent than a normal resisitive heater. You need ground source for efficient heating.
1 member liked this post.
14 September, 2021 at 4:06 pm #1141818They work fine as air conditioners, but for heating they aren’t much more efficent than a normal resisitive heater.
Actually they are probably worse than normal electric heaters as the compressor (the thing that consumes most of the electric) would be outside of the house.
If you have an electric oven you might as well just use that as a heater.
1 member liked this post.
14 September, 2021 at 5:27 pm #1141819Errrr hmmm……no
The colder it is… the better they work. If you put your hand behide a fridge you can feel the heat. Think of an air source heat pumps as a fridge working in reverse. They use about 7Kw of electricity which is about the same as an electric shower.
The problem is…. 1 Kw costs between 11 to 21 pence. If you run it 24 hours per day non stop…its about £24. Even if you run it 10 hours a day…its still £10.
But you can work out the cost yourself using the link below.
14 September, 2021 at 6:17 pm #1141823Errrr hmmm……no
The colder it is… the better they work. If you put your hand behide a fridge you can feel the heat. Think of an air source heat pumps as a fridge working in reverse. They use about 7Kw of electricity which is about the same as an electric shower.
The problem is…. 1 Kw costs between 11 to 21 pence. If you run it 24 hours per day non stop…its about £24. Even if you run it 10 hours a day…its still £10.
But you can work out the cost yourself using the link below.
In all the years i’ve posted in here, i’ve never heard as much bullsh it as spouted by fishy.
Quote ‘The colder it is… the better they work’
What volume of Bollocks Weekly do you subscribe to?
- This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by cooldandywarhol.
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