Heat pump applications surge after grant increase

Heat pump applications tripled in the week after the government increased its grant, figures published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a government programme in England and Wales to incentivise the replacement of fossil fuel boilers for greener alternatives. It provides funding in the form of a grant to reduce the upfront installation costs.

DESNZ announced in September an increase in the grant amounts. They are based on technology types: £7,500 for air-source heat pumps or ground-source heat pumps; and £5,000 for biomass boilers.

The scheme received 1,150 new applications and 1,502 reapplications in the first week after the grant uplift, more than three times higher than the average weekly rate before the change.

In the subsequent three weeks, new applications have remained at nearly 60% higher than the previous weekly average, according to DESNZ data.

The results come alongside research that reveals heat pumps are generally rated as quiet, with a majority of those surveyed saying they did not notice the sound. The study was conducted by engineering consultancy firm WSP, construction engineering company BSRIA, University of Salford and Stephen Turner Acoustics.

This article originally appeared on Construction Manager