Renewable Heat Incentive
Switching to low-carbon heating isn’t always cheap. But you can make it more affordable with the Renewable Heating Incentive.
What is the Renewable Heat Incentive?
If you own your own home (or you’re a private or social landlord) the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a way for the government to reward you for switching to lower carbon heating. The payments are made quarterly over seven years (and are based on how much renewable energy you create) and you can apply for certain types of heat pump, solar water heaters and biomass boilers.
How Does the Renewable Heat Incentive Work?
The domestic RHI works as a financial support program for homes with renewable energy heating systems. With the help of the RHI, households can save a significant amount of money in the long run if they have eligible heating systems installed – such as heat pumps.
Air source heat pumps
Heat pumps use the outside air/water/ground temperature and using clever science based on the same tech in your fridge freezer, turn that cold air into warm air for your home. And if you’re interested to find out more, we can help. We’re now rolling out CO2-cutting air source heat pumps up and down the UK. Find out more about air source heat pumps here.
Renewable Heat Incentive eligibility
If you own and/or occupy the property in the UK and have low carbon-energy technology installed, you can apply for RHI support. This includes private landlords, self-builders*, single domestic dwellings, and registered providers of Social Housing (that meet the criteria).
* Other than self-build projects, RHI support is not usually available to new build properties.
How do I apply for the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive?
You can apply to the scheme until 31st March 2022 and you can do that through Ofgem’s website. You should receive a decision fairly quickly as applications aren’t reviewed manually. Have all the relevant paperwork to hand and simply follow the steps.
Types of heat incentive
There are two types of Renewable Heat Incentives available: domestic and non-domestic.
Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive
The domestic RHI applies to private residences and is there to help anyone whose heating system is getting past its best and is in need of an upgrade. So instead of replacing like for like, now you can get financially rewarded for choosing a more planet (and pocket) friendly form of home heating. Learn how else you could save energy at home.
Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive
This is for anyone looking to upgrade their renewable heating systems for public, commercial, or industrial facilities. Such properties can make a big difference in helping us meet our climate goals – it also makes for a good selling point for new tenants or companies visiting your site.
Changes from March 2022
The RHI will be replaced by the Clean Heat Grant (also called the Boiler Upgrade Scheme) in March 2022. Instead of offering quarterly payments over seven years, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will offer homes up to £5000 to choose more renewable forms of heating. So you need to move quick if you’re to take advantage of the current RHI – some households could be better off by applying sooner rather than later.
Frequently Asked Questions
What other help with heating is available?
For further information about other government grants that might be available to you, take a look at our grants articles. There are also a few other schemes that can help heat your home over the winter. You can find out who’s eligible and how much the help is worth at the links below:
- Warm Home Discount scheme pays money to your energy supplier, which they then take off your bills
- Winter Fuel Fund provides a grant paid directly onto your energy bill via British Gas Energy Trust
Need more help?
If you’re a British Gas energy customer, we’re always here to help make things more manageable – and not just during winter either. Head to our ‘Help if you’re struggling to pay’ page to find out more about the extra support we offer.