In 2014, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM) launched the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to promote the use and installation of renewable methods of heating homes, to help achieve the UK’s targets for reducing carbon emissions.

Since then, thousands of homeowners across the country have received substantial RHI payments, every quarter over a 7 year period. The total amount you can receive in RHI payments can cover anywhere between 50-80% of the installation cost of your Air Source Heat Pump system.

Here is our RHI calculator which will give you an idea of the RHI payments you could receive along with the savings you could make on your energy bills as a result of installing and Air Source Heat Pump

Do I qualify for the RHI payments scheme?

The scheme is open to anyone who can meet the joining requirements. There is a detailed guide from OFGEM that you can download here: Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Essential Guide for Applicants

We’ve summarised the key points for you below:

Is your property eligible?

To apply for the Domestic RHI, you must provide a domestic EPC number. A domestic EPC is one that is issued for a property on the basis that it’s a ‘dwelling’. Most individual properties (detached, semi-detached and terraced houses, flats and maisonettes) which are used primarily as homes for single households will be ‘dwellings’.

Your property is eligible for the Domestic RHI if:

• Your renewable technology heats a single domestic property
• Your property has an integral home office or studio etc, you’ll still be able to apply to the Domestic RHI if your domestic EPC covers it.
• Your renewable technology heats a single property made up of multiple buildings
• Your renewable technology provides heat to a main house with a domestic EPC and outbuildings that form part of the same property (eg garages, pool houses, sheds, games rooms and gyms) you can apply for the Domestic RHI.

MCS certification:

• Your renewable heating product must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), or equivalent.
• The installation of your renewable heating product must also have an MCS Certificate and have been installed by an MCS certified installer.
• Products and installations that don’t have an MCS Certificate won’t be eligible for the Domestic RHI.

Ownership:

The applicant must own or occupy the property the renewable technology heats.

Timing of the commissioning of your renewable technology:

The renewable technology must be installed after the property is first occupied, unless the property is a ‘custom-build’ (see below).

Custom-builds:

Custom-built properties are where a builder is contracted by an individual to create a ‘custom-built’ property or where a private individual builds it as a DIY ‘self-build’ project. To be eligible for the scheme as a custom-build you must meet all three of the following criteria:

• The property must have been built principally using the labour or resources of the first owner (a loan you are liable to repay is considered to be your own resources for this purpose);
• The date the property was first occupied must be after the first commissioning date of the renewable technology; and,
• The first owner and all subsequent owners of the property must be individuals. (If at any stage the property has been owned, even in part, by a nonindividual (eg a company), the renewable heating system will be ineligible

To complete the application form for the Domestic RHI, you’ll need:

• Your Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS)certificate number
• Your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) 
• Your bank details for the account to which you want the payments made. The details you use for your application must be the same as on your bank account.
• Your metering questions, if you need to be metered
• Invoices or records stating both the cost of the system and labour to install (these can be approximations and will not affect your payments or eligibility).

CB Heat Pumps will assist you in the application for the RHI payments to ensure the application is processed as quickly and as efficiently as possible by OFGEM.

How much you could earn?

The below calculations assume a typical Igloo customer’s annual energy usage of 18,957 kWh, 80% boiler efficiency and current fuel prices (subject to change).