The chances are that you’ve never heard of the UK Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme. These sorts of schemes have a history of very poor promotion, as confirmed by a recent House of Lords report.
Even if you have heard of it, you be unaware that the scheme is available to small businesses.
Capital grants are available for the replacement of fossil fuelled boilers with Air or Ground Source Heat pumps, and Biomass (wood chip or pellet) boilers. Depending on the type, the grant rates are between £5k and £6k.
The upper size limit for appliances is 45kW. That would be a large domestic / small commercial boiler. For businesses then, the scheme will really only be of any use for micro / small businesses, occupying premises up to around 600 sq.m floor space (very roughly, depending on the thermal performance of the building and its type). In order to be eligible, if the building EPC recommends that further insulation is fitted, this must have been done.
We reckon that those grant levels represent around 25-35% of the cost of a small commercial heat pump, and around 25% of the cost of a wood pellet boiler, so useful amounts.
The detail of the scheme can be found at https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/boiler-upgrade-scheme
We’ll be doing an article specifically on Heat Pumps – how and where they are suitable. They are NOT a straight swap for an oil or gas boiler.
Ewan Bent, 22nd Feb 2023