Trade
Homeowner
Renewable products to dominate the domestic heating & hot water industry
, 25.07.2011
The multi-billion pound domestic heating industry is in the middle of a step-change – and this change towards renewable and microgeneration technologies offers new opportunities and challenges in all sectors of the industry. Renewable technologies are becoming a key part of the domestic heating industry, and with this comes the introduction of a range of new services and installation techniques. At the heart of this step-change is the pressing need for more efficient use of our energy resources.
The developments we’re experiencing within the industry offer installers, designers, architects, developers and social housing a massive opportunity to prosper in the face of the downturn, yet with the change comes a need for new knowledge and approaches to end users.
The domestic heating market is now fully embracing renewables, and the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) also known as the ‘clean energy cash-back’ scheme and The Green Deal which come into force next year, are helping drive and promote the marketplace. The RHI scheme will reward homeowners for using renewables for heating and hot water needs while The Green Deal enables bill payers to get energy efficiency improvements without having to front up the cash.
The RHI scheme will support a range of technologies, including air and ground source heat pumps (and other geothermal energy), solar thermal and renewable combined heat and power. Over the forthcoming months and years, solar and heat pump technology – including Hybrid-type systems, will become serious mainstream product sectors.
According to Chris Huhne; Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, “Millions of homes and businesses could benefit from improvements under The Green Deal. Owner-occupiers and tenants will both reap the rewards of better energy efficiency. There will also be extra help for those most in need, such as the vulnerable, those on low incomes and those with homes that are expensive to treat.”
Huhne goes on to say that The Green Deal also represents a significant opportunity for businesses……“trades people, energy companies and investors will have access to a huge and growing market, with implications for jobs and skills across the supply chain – and across the country, with no regional bias. We predict that the supply chain could support 100,000 jobs within five years, spread across the UK”.
With The Green Deal, businesses will provide the capital, getting their money back via the Energy Bill. At the heart of the offer is a simple rule: estimated savings on bills will always equal or exceed the cost of the work.
David Orr; Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation says: “Housing Associations are excited by The Green Deal's potential to help make the nation's homes greener and reduce fuel bills. The National Housing Federation is working closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to ensure housing associations are at the forefront of delivering The Green Deal, not just for their affordable 2.5 million homes, but across the entire housing stock.”
This is extremely good news for installers primarily – to benefit installers will need to get up to speed with renewables because for householders to qualify for RHI cashback, both the product and the installer must be Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) approved.
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is an independent scheme, supported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), for the certification of microgeneration products and installers.
MCS provides reassurance to consumers through the assessment of microgeneration products and installers against robust quality, performance and safety criteria. The accreditation scheme is supported by industry certification bodies and non-governmental groups as a prime method for making a substantial contribution to cutting the UK's dependency on fossil fuels, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
BPEC, for example, launched its Heat Pump Installer (HPI) assessment; designed to sit within the MCS framework, early last year. This training is key for installers to understand best applications and sizing for heat pumps and they should be racing to sign up for it.
It is also important that they only purchase quality renewable products from already established and well known brands that have the service and technical back up to support installers, and can turn around parts on a same day/next day basis.
Established manufacturers are also more likely to be in a position to help with MCS training for heat pumps and solar thermal, guiding installers through the process and giving them all the information and documentation needed for the MCS Quality Management Assessment.
Installers who have had the foresight to train for MCS certification are already cashing in on the renewables windfall created by RHI, as eligibility for the scheme has been backdated to installations from July 2009. A ‘Premium Payment’ will be available for installations from July this year for up to 25,000 installations. Those taking up the Premium Payment will then be eligible for a RHI tariff from October next year.
As simple monobloc heat pumps (which have sealed refrigerant circuits and need no refrigerant handling qualifications to install) continue to grow in the market, these will appear increasingly inviting to traditional gas boiler installers.
Heat pump technology will become common in domestic heating systems and in many cases a traditional, High Efficiency boiler can be fitted as well - to offer flexibility, perhaps as part of a hybrid system such as Glow-worm’s innovative Clearly Hybrid.
While traditional modern boiler technology still has an important part to play in achieving energy efficiency and cutting running costs, renewables are here to stay and the demand for them will become greater.
Whether in the private or social housing arena, installers have a lot to gain from the move towards renewables and it is essential that in order to future proof their business, they make themselves as knowledgeable about solar, heat pumps and hybrid systems as they are about traditional boilers today.