Heat pump grant requirements

bleary

I have been thinking and talking about getting an air to air pump for over a year and have been looking into the seai grant.

I've no problem getting a technical assessment before getting one but I'm currently e rated due to mainly electrical heating being used.

I've already added insulation , fixed draught and will be improving ventilation etc along with other measures over the next few years.

I imagine the assessment will tell me I need to remove the open fire which is in my plans but not in the short term. I'm using a chimney sheep which has made a difference.

Do you actually need to make all the recommended changes before getting the heat pump grant or just commit to making them?

So is it this is what you should do and then they Check the changes are made before issuing grant?

Trying to decide if it will be worth my while at all.

Anyone received this grant and how was the process

Charlie 08

Would love some information on this also

headtheball14

Yes Me too, I've emailed seai so will update if I hear anything back.
I find it hard to believe with the amount of work needed to get up to a c grade from an e grade ber rating for example, that it would be possible to do all of this within a short time period unless you already have most of the work in progress.

If so it is a grant only to allow newish houses convert from oil/gas to heat pumps or if you are already in the middle of a complete retrofit

Alf Veedersane

The heat loss indicator needs to be below the threshold before the grant is issued. So work must be done.

Otherwise the efficiency just won't be enough.

ercork

I looked into getting this grant earlier in the year. A Technical Assessment costs €700 but the grant for air to air heat pumps is only €600. So I decided not to bother with the grant!

bleary

Thanks for that, your posts last year on the air to air also were also really helpful.
I guess the short answer is that the techical assessment and grant are not worthwhile for air to air heat pumps which is what I suspected.

I can understand the requirement for air to water systems, they are a larger investment and need a Minimum standard of heat retention to be effective. For air to air, considering I'm using fan heaters and dehumidifiers at the moment, I would imagine the heat pump would be an improvement.

I had someone In during the year to talk about ventilation who really put me off the systems at the time, but you find yours ok? And I assume you're not in a high ber rated property.
Thanks again

ercork

bleary wrote: »

Thanks for that, your posts last year on the air to air also were also really helpful.
I guess the short answer is that the techical assessment and grant are not worthwhile for air to air heat pumps which is what I suspected.

I can understand the requirement for air to water systems, they are a larger investment and need a Minimum standard of heat retention to be effective. For air to air, considering I'm using fan heaters and dehumidifiers at the moment, I would imagine the heat pump would be an improvement.

I had someone In during the year to talk about ventilation who really put me off the systems at the time, but you find yours ok? And I assume you're not in a high ber rated property.
Thanks again

My house was built in 2004 and has insulation and double glazed windows from that era. They're not bad but upgrading them would undoubtedly improve things. The BER is E1 but I reckon replacing the storage heaters with the heat pump would bump it up to a C something if I got it recertified.

The way I look at it the heat pump produces heat when I want it at a cost that is significantly less than standard electric heating systems. I do as much as possible of my Immersion hot water heating during the night rate so overall it's not a bad setup.

Alf Veedersane

ercork wrote: »

My house was built in 2004 and has insulation and double glazed windows from that era. They're not bad but upgrading them would undoubtedly improve things. The BER is E1 but I reckon replacing the storage heaters with the heat pump would bump it up to a C something if I got it recertified.

The way I look at it the heat pump produces heat when I want it at a cost that is significantly less than standard electric heating systems. I do as much as possible of my Immersion hot water heating during the night rate so overall it's not a bad setup.

I would expect that a house built in 2004 would have a heat loss indicator that is within the range for getting approval without additional work.

Heat pumps aren't suitable for every house so i can see why the technical assessment requirement is in place.

Muahahaha

bleary wrote: »

Anyone received this grant and how was the process

Im researching the same system at the moment, air to air heat pump. As regards the grant my understanding is that the technical assessor comes out and does a BER report and tells you what improvements must be in place before a heat pump system will work efficiently. If the building is not airtight enough they will say you need to improve insulation and air tightness before installing a heat pump. When the works are complete they come out again and undertake another BER report to assess the improvements. That report is then submitted to the SEAI so you can get the grant.

Im in two minds in that I already know if I pay a technical assessor they are going to fail the house for a heat pump as it is not currently air tight enough. Insulation and ventilation are on my agenda anyway so its hard to see the point of an assessment to tell me what I already know. But its how the grant works so you've no choice.

The SEAI give a grant of €200 towards the technical assessment. This is only payable in conjunction with the heat pump grant so if you end up not installing a heat pump you cannot claim it. However if you did then its €200 for the technical assessment and €600 grant for the air to air heat pump. There is also a €50 grant available for the BER cert.

I've only got one quote for the technical assessment so far as below-

1. Pre Building Energy Rating (BER) survey, Energy Advisory Report and Technical Assessment Application = €450 plus vat @23%;

The homeowner then applies for the grant and gets the work done

2. Post BER and Completion of SEAI Grant Forms = €250plus vat @ 23%

Total €700+VAT at 23% = €861

I've already got a valid BER cert & advisory report in hand but he wouldnt discount the price on that basis, he said that a fresh BER has to be carried out despite this only being done a year ago. Will be shopping around more in the new year to see if going down the grant route is worth it, at the moment paying the guts of €900 to find out information I already know doesnt seem like good business but maybe I am over-simplfying it- I do see the value in having a full energy audit carried out on the building so I know where exactly it is losing heat. The technical assessor I got the quote from didnt say how they will carry this out, Im not sure if they are using thermal imaging or air tightness tests or what method they use. Will know more in the new year when I contact a few more assessors.

Alf Veedersane

Muahahaha wrote: »

Im researching the same system at the moment, air to air heat pump. As regards the grant my understanding is that the technical assessor comes out and does a BER report and tells you what improvements must be in place before a heat pump system will work efficiently. If the building is not airtight enough they will say you need to improve insulation and air tightness before installing a heat pump. When the works are complete they come out again and undertake another BER report to assess the improvements. That report is then submitted to the SEAI so you can get the grant.

Im in two minds in that I already know if I pay a technical assessor they are going to fail the house for a heat pump as it is not currently air tight enough. Insulation and ventilation are on my agenda anyway so its hard to see the point of an assessment to tell me what I already know. But its how the grant works so you've no choice.

The SEAI give a grant of €200 towards the technical assessment. This is only payable in conjunction with the heat pump grant so if you end up not installing a heat pump you cannot claim it. However if you did then its €200 for the technical assessment and €600 grant for the air to air heat pump. There is also a €50 grant available for the BER cert.

I've only got one quote for the technical assessment so far as below-

1. Pre Building Energy Rating (BER) survey, Energy Advisory Report and Technical Assessment Application = €450 plus vat @23%

The homeowner then applies for the grant and gets the work done

2. Post BER and Completion of SEAI Grant Forms = €250plus vat @ 23%

Total €700+VAT at 23% = €861

I've already got a valid BER cert & advisory report in hand but he wouldnt discount the price on that basis, he said that a fresh BER has to be carried out despite this only being done a year ago. Will be shopping around more in the new year to see if going down the grant route is worth it, at the moment paying the guts of €900 to find out information I already know doesnt seem like good business but maybe I am over-simplfying it- I do see the value in having a full energy audit carried out on the building so I know where exactly it is losing heat. The technical assessor I got the quote from didnt say how they will carry this out, Im not sure if they are using thermal imaging or air tightness tests or what method they use. Will know more in the new year when I contact a few more assessors.

If he's not specifying detail, I'm guessing a default value will be specified. An airtightness test would be of the order of €200+ and thermal imaging won't inform the BER.

I don't know how other technical assessors would operate but I don't think many will offer an airtightness test so it's mistly going to be assessing the BER to get the heat loss indicator and where that's above the threshold for getting a heat pump, they will identify what needs to be done to the get the insulation to the appropriate level.

bleary

From SEAI

Currently there is no time limit between the Technical Assessment being carried out and the grant application for the Heat Pump Systems

You will submit the Technical Assessment at application stage and a BER assessment will have to be carried out after the Heat Pump system is installed.

SEAI won't pay the grant if the works required to bring the Heat Loss Indicator (HLI) to 2 are not carried out.

In summary I won't be applying for the grant .

ercork

bleary wrote: »

From SEAI

Currently there is no time limit between the Technical Assessment being carried out and the grant application for the Heat Pump Systems

You will submit the Technical Assessment at application stage and a BER assessment will have to be carried out after the Heat Pump system is installed.

SEAI won't pay the grant if the works required to bring the Heat Loss Indicator (HLI) to 2 are not carried out.

In summary I won't be applying for the grant .

It's a very demanding process alright. Probably well worth it for an air to water system but not for air to air.