Louis Pickersgill, Managing Director of Ravenheat, provides his reaction to the recently launched Green Deal Home Improvement Fund and explains why it’s good for the boiler market.

“Things are looking up. In the same week that we learn that UK boiler sales are on the rise, with an increase of just over 18% in the first quarter of 2014, compared with the same period in 2013 – according to figures from the Heating & Hotwater Council – we are also greeted with the new Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF).

“Designed to revamp the failing and controversial Green Deal scheme, GDHIF promises a much more simplified scheme offering a variety of incentives with £1,000 for installing two or more energy saving measures, one of these being a gas boiler. There is a total of £360 million available over three years to cover this.

“At last, the Government is finally waking up and taking action. It was apparent for far too long that Green Deal was not working and that for a variety of reasons, homeowners were never going to embrace it.

“After the suspension of Eco, let’s hope that GDHIF offers a new lifeline to improving energy efficiency in homes not covered by the eco scheme. It should help boost business for installers in particular, who are weary and wary of yet another incentive scheme that involves registration and accreditation.

“As far as the boiler industry is concerned, it’s reassuring to see that boilers are included in the list of energy improvement measures that homeowners can choose from – and not just any boiler, it is specifically condensing mains gas boilers only. Given the long list of renewable options available to homeowners, it’s heartening to know that the Government recognises that every home still needs a gas boiler.

“It is also good to know that Passive Flue Heat Recovery Devices are included. When coupled with a boiler, these devices can help make significant and meaningful savings on energy consumption, contributing to both carbon emission savings and cold water wastage. This energy saving option in our opinion ranks very high in the 12 eligible measures listed.

“It’s good to see that GDHIF also offers a more simplified application process for customers and has opened up access to approved green deal installers as well as providers. For those installers who are already Green Deal authorised, it’s only a matter of registration in order to be eligible to offer the scheme to customers.

“But will this latest incentive be enough to encourage non-Green Deal registered installers to become authorised? With scepticism running rife, particularly amongst the smaller installers, only time will tell. Deregulation of the mechanics of registering for the scheme would be welcomed by many, but it does no good pouring cold water on a scheme that hasn’t had chance to ignite.

“With consumer confidence returning to its pre-recession levels, and boiler sales on the up, we should all embrace GDHIF and get behind the scheme to try to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.

“No one doubts that we all need to take sustainability seriously in the future and on paper, there is a great opportunity for installers in the industry – but for it to really take off with the householder, the Government has to provide clear and effective communication to the public in order to raise awareness and confidence in this latest scheme.”

Neil Schofield, Head of Government and External Affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group, commented:  “It is extremely encouraging to see the Government continue to invest in energy efficiency enhancements and the heating and hot water industry will do all it can to ensure this additional funding is put to good use. With this however, comes a frustration that installers remain excluded, which is a familiar story unfortunately.

“Despite the incentive looking very attractive at face value, installer buy-in is crucial, and we still find ourselves in a position where the vast majority of the nation’s 130,000 well-qualified professionals, including Gas Safe & OFTEC-registered installers, are held back by red tape and the need for costly extra qualifications. DECC’s insistence that Green Deal work is carried out by approved companies means this additional funding simply isn’t accessible to the majority of homeowners, which is a huge frustration.

“Concerns raised by our industry in response to the initial Green Deal proposals still don’t appear to have been acted upon. The announcement seems to be a little rushed and perhaps politically timed to coincide with the forthcoming by-elections.

Since the launch of the additional funding, the omission of certain technologies from the line-up of qualifying technologies has also been questioned – a criticism Neil believes is valid.

“The Minister’s statement also points to the need to replace ‘faulty’ boilers, which ignores the value in upgrading a boiler operating at substandard efficiency. Combine this with the absence of oil-fired boilers from the list of qualifying technologies and we have a significant shortfall in the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund. The boiler is a key element to the Green Deal as it can be used as a trigger for other energy saving measures.

“It would be fair to say DECC has made an oversight in not making certain technologies, such as oil-fired boilers, sophisticated controls, and high-efficiency cylinders eligible for funding. The omission of oil-fired boilers in particular rules out a Government-funded boiler upgrade for almost a million homes in rural England and Wales, which could prove to be a missed opportunity.

“Last month’s RHI launch coupled with this additional allocation of Green Deal funding could go some way to making energy efficiency measures more attractive to homeowners, but for this to happen, buy-in from the nation’s heating engineers needs to be encouraged quickly.”