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February, 2010 Archive

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for Solar Thermal Panels

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

The government has announced a new feed in tariff for low carbon heating technologies. This is planned to come into effect in April 2011 and will guarantee payments for those who install solar thermal systems.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a solar thermal system will provide an income of 18p per kwh of heat produced.The installation of solar thermal panels in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £250 a year plus an additional saving on fuel.


This makes already solar thermals even more attractive from a financial and environmental point of view.

The consulation documentation can be found here:-

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/rhi/rhi.aspx

Posted in News, Solar Water Heating | No Comments »

Economy 7 – Is it worth it?

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Many of our customers have historically been signed up to an economy 7 package.

Given the name I can understand how people would assume that it must be good value. Consumers often forget that to receive a very attractive night rate you must pay more for electricity during the day.

This means that the savings are not always there. To prove the point I have done few basic calculations.

Is 40% of your total electricity usage at night?
Typically economy 7 rates are presently in the region of 15p/kWh during the day and 5p/kWh at night. A typical standard rate is 11p/kWh for any time usage.

This means that for Economy 7 tariff to save the home owner money they must use around 40% of their electricity at night. For homes that are heated with storage heaters this is easily achieved but for home that use gas or even a heat pump this is often not the case.

For most people even putting the washing machine and an hot water cylinder immersion heater on at night will not increase night usage to 40% of their total.

I am not saying that Economy 7 is a waste of time but it is important to realise that it is not always the cheapest option.

Posted in Heat Pumps, News, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for Heat Pumps

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The government has announced a world first in a feed in tariff for low carbon heating technologies. This will come into effect in April 2011 and guarantee payments for those who install ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a heat pump will provide an income of 7.5p per kwh of heat produced for air source heat pumps and 7p/kWh for ground source heat pumps.
The installation of an air source heat pump in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of a conventional fossil fuel system. This means that the payback for a heat pump is under six years, and if you are replacing a boiler anyway, then the payback is only 3.5 years.

So these systems are now enormously attractive from a financial and environmental point of view.

Ed Miliband, secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change said “The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make a move to low carbon living. The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.”

The consulation documentation can be found here:-

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/rhi/rhi.aspx

Posted in Heat Pumps, News | 2 Comments »

Leicestershire Community Climate Change Grants

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Community Climate Change Grants can provide up to £5,000 towards community projects in Leicestershire. If you are a registered charity, village/community building, community group, religious organisation or parish town council you could be eligible for the grants. As long as your project helps to improve energy efficiency and reduce the impacts of climate change it will be worth contacting Leicestershire County Council.

Intelligent Energy Solutions are MCS approved installers which is a requirement for all government grant schemes and incentives.

Posted in News, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) and Wind Turbine Feed In Tariffs (FIT)

Monday, February 15th, 2010

The government has confirmed new feed in tariffs for electricity generating microgeneration systems.

From 1st April 2010 41.3p can be claimed for every kwh that is generated from solar PV panels, as well as this, the rate is guaranteed for 25 years and linked to inflation. Add to this the saving made for not purchasing the electricity and again the money received for exporting, means there has never been a better time to install a solar microgeneration system in the UK.

The table below shows the new tariffs available, if you would like more information then please visit: http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/

- Solar PV new build (< 4 kW) 36.1p
- Solar PV retrofit (< 4 kW) 41.3p
- Solar PV retrofit (4-10kW) 36.1p
- Wind turbine (1.5-15 kW) 26.7p
- Wind turbine (15-100 kW) 24.1p

This is only available to customers who have systems installed by an MCS approved installer such as Intelligent Energy Solutions.

Posted in News, Solar PV Panels, Wind Turbines | No Comments »