Gillian Allder, director, Grant Aided Heating Installers Network, discusses how government's recent announcement of increased funding for heating and insulation is set to boost the demand of professional heating installers in the domestic market and this, in turn, will incease sales of renewables like solar PV and heat pumps as well as gas central heating.
The government's recently announced significant increase in grant funding for heating and insulation is set to boost the demand for professional heating installers in the domestic market. This will be particularly evident when installers can also offer renewable products to complement the latest heating equipment and controls.


There will be an increase of £150 million under the Warm Front budget to help 75,000 more households. A further £50 million will fund a Green Boiler incentive, so a further 125,000 households can upgrade their boilers. A further £40 million will support small scale and community level low carbon technologies: feed-in tariffs will provide a financial incentive to install renewables: and funding from energy suppliers is to be doubled.

Central heating boilers and controls are now within the reach of even more households. Those connected to the gas grid are now eligible for grants of up to £3,500 (up from £2,700) while those in areas off the grid can apply for funding up to £6,000 (an increase of £2,000).

Energy suppliers provide grants under the government's Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) scheme.

Suppliers must encourage and assist their customers to make energy savings, through installing measures such as cavity wall and loft insulation and energy efficient boilers, appliances and light bulbs. As well as cutting greenhouse gas emissions, CERT is also designed to cut fuel poverty. At least 40 per cent of the energy savings must be focused on low income households. Offers can be taken up from any of the energy companies, regardless of which supplies the gas and electricity.

In providing grants for heating and renewables, for those who need them most, government is also setting a very important lead that those householders, who are not eligible for grants, should follow. It believes everyone should upgrade to a condensing boiler, coupled with efficient controls and thermostats, and aided by renewable products, such as solar panels, ground and air source heat pumps and other microgeneration equipment.

Microgeneration measures are advancing so fast that choosing the products that are right for a particular situation can be difficult. This is why it is important to consult the experts.

The Grant Aided Heating Installers Network (GAIN) is made up of heating installers who have attained high technical and professional standards.

They need to be technically competent in order to undertake government and other grant work. Under GAIN criteria, they are also committed to attaining a quality award. Whether or not it is grant work, heating installations are highly skilled work and should be the responsibility of experts.

GAIN works with heating installers to upgrade the professionalism of this industry and promote this to government, grants agencies, registered social landlords, and the general public, in order to deliver cost effective and energy efficient heating solutions throughout the UK.

In the context of cutting carbon emissions through embracing renewable energy, GAIN members are now opting for providing conventional heating measures to work alongside renewables. For instance, to get the best investment from renewable energy sources, it is vital the latest state-of-the-art heating controls are in place.

Renewable energy measures installed by GAIN members include solar panels, wind turbines, ground source heat pumps and energy catchers.

Air source heat pumps can be used effectively for either space or water heating (or both). Air pumps take heat energy from the air outside and transfer it to the building. The heat is upgraded by using a pump and compressor which removes heat from one side of the circuit and ejects it to the other side. Ground source heating pumps use a buried ground loop, which transfers heat from the ground into a building to provide space heating.

Energy catcher is a new system that extracts virtually all the heat from gas boiler fumes, whenever the boiler is operating, with a net result of 5 per cent extra saving on gas and a reduction in bills.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems use energy from the sun to convert solar radiation into electricity, which can be used directly to run appliances and lighting, or sold back to the national grid, or stored in batteries in off grid locations.

Solar hot water panels can be fitted on to or integrated into a building's roof. They use the sun's energy to heat water directly, or a heat-transfer fluid, which passes through the panel.

Wind turbines harness energy from the wind to produce electricity. The blades drive a generator either directly or via a gearbox (generally for larger machines) to produce heating (or both).

With regard to photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, from April 1, government has increased the Feed-in-tariff (FIT) for electricity produced by solar panels.
Householders will be able to claim 41.3p per kWh (or 'unit') produced. If more electricity is produced than is used in the home the householder will be paid an extra 3p on top of this for every unit fed back into the national grid.
According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change a typical 2.5 kW PV panel system should earn its owner £900 a year, plus a £140 per year saving on the property's electricity bill.

However, it is important to recognise that such a system is likely to cost around £12,500 to install, giving an initial payback period of 12 years.


The Grant Aided Heating Installers Network is holding its second annual conference for RSLs, builders and other specifiers on Wednesday, June 30, covering heating and microgeneration equipment. Details available on the GAIN website at http://www.gainassociation.org.uk/.