£5k for a heat pump. Isn't that generous?

Probably the biggest announcement from the government in the run up to the autumn budget and CPO26 was that from April next year they will give people in England and Wales £5000 towards the cost of installing heat pumps. At least until the money runs out - £450 million has been allocated so that would be 90,000 homes out of the 25 million homes estimated to have gas boilers.

Unfortunately they forgot to mention (and hardly anyone in the media seemed aware, when they were passing the news on) that the current Renewable Heat Incentive scheme will close in March.

I went to the government's Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) calculator and checked what is currently on offer, anywhere in the UK, for a heat pump in a typical home - a well-insulated three-bedroom 1980s semi with gas central heating. The RHI payments for an air-source heat pump would be £5320 or, for a ground-source heat pump, £11,200, payable in quarterly installments over seven years.

That's right, that's more - even more than twice as much - help available now as there will be from April. So, the exchequer is likely to save big time while householders lose out.

Not only that, but only heat pumps have been mentioned so far in next year's 'give away', whereas the current RHI offer covers not just heat pumps but thermal (hot water) solar panels and biomass boilers. And it's often not a good idea to simply swap a boiler for a heat pump as they work better with underfloor heating or over-sized radiators or with improved levels of insulation to reduce the heating requirements. Despite the best efforts of Insulate Britain in gluing themselves to the M25, I have not heard about any new money being offered for insulation.

So, I will wait anxiously, for the budget and further news as COP26 approaches, hoping that Boris and his pals have more measures planned to make real steps towards zero carbon, rather than just sneakily grabbing money back. And, to rewrite the title of this post: £5000 for a heat pump. That isn't generous.

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