Funding: Householder

This grant is the Scottish equivalent of LCPB phase 1, with grants of up to 30% (maximum £4,000) of the total cost of products and installation, after the required energy efficiency measures have been carried out such as insulation and energy saving light bulbs.

Geothermal International can help with any part of the application process, up to a complete application service on your behalf.

The Code considers issues relating to climate change. Its aim is to improve the overall sustainability of new homes by setting out a single national standard for England, Wales and Northern Ireland within which the house building industry can design and construct homes to higher environmental standards, and it gives new homebuyers better information about the environmental impact of their new home and its potential running costs. The Code also reflects the future regulatory route towards zero carbon houses in 2016.

The Code is currently a voluntary standard in England. Every new build has to be rated against the Code, although no specific star ratings are set in the private sector currently. However, it is used as a condition of funding for the Homes and Communities Agency's National Affordable Housing Programme (building must be to Code 3), on other government projects and land, and by local authorities when they want to set sustainability-based planning conditions on housing developments in their area.

As regulations tighten to achieve the requirements of zero carbon buildings in 2016, building structures will have much lower heat losses, and space heating requirements would therefore be considerably reduced. Heat pumps are an incredibly efficient way of delivering lower levels of space heating whilst still satisfying domestic hot water requirements. There are no CO2 emissions and they can be easily combined with other renewables such as solar thermal or photovoltaics to achieve maximum Code levels.

From April 2010 households and communities who install generating technologies such as photovoltaic solar panels are entitled to claim payments for the low carbon electricity they produce - up to 5 megawatts generated on site will receive a payment for up to 25 years, depending on the generating technology. Any surplus electricity fed back to the grid will receive a guaranteed price.

To find out how to combine technologies, such as heat pumps/PV panels, to make the most of this scheme and the forthcoming Renewable Heat Incentive, contact us.

The Home Energy Pay As You Save is a pilot scheme, started in December 2009, and gives households the opportunity to invest in energy efficiency and microgeneration products in their homes with no upfront costs. Householders will make repayments spread over a long enough period so that repayments are lower that their predicted energy bills savings - meaning that financial and carbon savings are made from day one. This scheme to pioneer financing of home energy makeovers is part of the 'Great British Refurb' and, together with the Renewable Heat Incentive, which will pay an annual tariff for the heat produced, gives an even greater incentive to upgrade existing systems to energy efficiency ones such as heat pumps. The pilot scheme has been launched with around 500 homes from Birmingham, London Borough of Sutton, Sunderland, Stroud, Surrey and Sussex being offered the chance to receive a whole house energy makeover, and the Energy Savings Trust has more information about the funding bodies involved in these areas. (PAYS@est.org.uk).