The Renewable Heat Premium Payment is designed to help you afford renewable technologies for your home. If you’ve read about the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), you may already be aware that the Renewable Heat Premium Payment is a slightly different scheme to provide one-off grants prior to the introduction of the RHI for domestic customers.

What is the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?

This is a UK Government scheme designed to help you afford renewable technologies for your home, such as:

• Solar thermal panels

• Heat pumps ( air to water source, ground source or water source but excluding exhaust air heat pumps), and

• Biomass boilers

The amount received as part of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme depends on which technology you are applying for. The voucher values for each of the technologies are listed below:

Technology	Voucher Value
Solar Thermal Hot Water	£300
Air to Water Source Heat Pump	£850
Ground Source or Water Source Heat Pump	£1250
Biomass boiler	£950

The Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme  will run from 1st May 2012 to 31st March 2013.

Who can apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you are eligible to apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment.

How you currently heat your home will depend on which technologies you are able to apply for.

Those who have recently removed a mains gas heating system or currently heat their home with mains gas are only eligible to apply for Solar Thermal.

However, if you currently rely on oil, liquid gas, solid fuel or electricity then you could also apply for air to water source heat pumps, ground – or water – source heat pumps and biomass boilers.

If you have any further questions about whether you can apply, please feel free to give one of our friendly advisor’s a call on 01745 582254

What do you have to do before applying?

• The property must be owned by you or if you are a tenant you must be purchasing the system yourself and have permission from the owner of the property;

• If the property is a new build, then you must retain ownership of the property either as the occupier or as the private Landlord;

• Property must have loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation (where practical);

• You should have all necessary planning and environmental permissions in place;

• The product and installer you go with must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), Solar Keymark (or equivalent).

If you have got questions just give us a call on 01745 582254

Many local fire authorities have recently issued safety guidance to anyone in their area using a wood burning or solid fuel stove. This is mainly in response to a growing number of house fires linked to the misuse or poor installation of a small percentage of wood burning stoves.

So why the increase in incidents?

A major factor in this upward trend would be the substantial energy price rises imposed by most suppliers in recent years, coupled with the struggle to cope with recession, have made wood burners a popular choice when householders are looking for ways to save money on home their heating bills. However the need to save money has inevitably tempted some people to cut corners when it comes to the installation of their appliance, increasing the risk of a house fire.

So what can be done?

It important to remember that when a wood stove is used correctly, it is a perfectly safe and effective way to heat your home, but if your somewhat of a newcomer to the solid fuel world your should really be aware of the basic safety considerations that come with burning wood or smokeless coals.

• Its VITAL the stove is fitted correctly, not only to ensure the stove is safe but also to ensure your new investment is running as efficiently as its supposed to, remember the objected here is to save you money. Always ensure your stove is fitted professionally, ideally by a HETAS qualified engineer, and that all checks – including having the chimney checked – are completed BEFORE installation. Prevention is better (and cheaper) than cure in this instance.

• So you have just read the latest glossy Sunday supplement and like the idea of having your stove festooned with lovely logs like the photos suggest? Well its really not a good idea! People often leave firewood close to the stove to dry out before it is used, but the wood can get sufficiently warm and dry to catch fire even if it isn’t in direct contact with the woodburner, so be careful. It may seem obvious but you should keep any flammable materials well away from your stove.

• The surface of your stove will become VERY hot during use. If you have young children or elderly in the house, a fireguard is a must! A sturdy guard around your woodburner will help prevent them getting close enough to burn their hands.

• Use a spark guard when refueling your stove. Those little embers can still ignite should they fall from your stove, which could potentially lead to a serious incident.

If you are thinking of getting a wood burning stove always recommend a professional solid fuel installation survey before going ahead to confirm it is a suitable heating option for your home, to get a clear idea of the installation costs and to ensure you have expert help in choosing the best stove for your home.