Supporting your customers with ways to save money on their new heat pump

Heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular across the UK and many homeowners may have questions on ways that they can reduce the costs of installation and lower the running costs

Monday 23rd September 2024

Whilst a heat pump is a great low carbon way of heating homes as they use renewable energy to heat homes across the UK. The initial installation cost can be a considerable investment for your customers and homeowners may ask their installer for options on ways to reduce this cost and the ongoing running costs of their new heat pump.

Until 2028, the Government are offering a grant in England and Wales for up to £7,500 to support the installation costs of a heat pump under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). And, if you are in Scotland your customers can access the Home Energy Scotland (HES) grant which allows homeowners to benefit with up to £7,500 towards a new heat pump with uplifts in rural areas.

As an installer, you will need to support your customer with the MCS accreditation on their heat pump installation to allow them access to this grant.

Heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular in UK households and energy companies are now doing their part to provide homeowners with tariffs that support their low carbon technology and help reduce their electricity bills.

But with new tariffs and add-ons launching from energy companies, it can be hard to advise your customers on what is available and the best option to use alongside their Vaillant heat pump.

Here are a few that have been recently introduced by energy suppliers*:

• EDF are offering a Heat Pump Tracker tariff trial to customers which offers a lower rate during selected times of the day.
• Octopus Energy have introduced Cosy Octopus, a smart electricity tariff dedicated to heat pump technology to offer homeowners lower rates at three off peak times during the day.
• Scottish Power offer a heat pump tariff with a cheaper rate of 15p per kWh between 11am and 4pm each day.

Earlier this year, Vaillant partnered with energy supplier OVO to help UK homeowners save up to £229** a year on the energy costs of a Vaillant air source heat pump.

Heat Pump Plus is a free type of use add-on for new and existing OVO customers who have either a Vaillant aroTHERM or aroTHERM plus air source heat pump installed at their property***. This bespoke add-on is available to those with a ‘connected Vaillant Heat Pump’, meaning that the heating system has been installed and is being used with a myVAILLANT connect internet gateway and controlled via the myVAILLANT app, alongside either a sensoCOMFORT, sensoHOME or sensoROOM.

With reduced costs compared to a standard variable tariff, your customer’s Vaillant heat pump will cost just 15p per kWh to run, making the Vaillant heat pump a more affordable option to heat their home.

What makes the OVO Heat Pump Plus unique is that it is a dedicated type of use rate compared to a tariff that only works during off peak hours. So, Vaillant customers will benefit from the 15p per kWh at all times of the day whenever their heating and hot water is required.

Don’t forget, by installing a smart Vaillant control and using the myVAILLANT app, your customers can control and monitor their heat pump anytime, anywhere.

The myVAILLANT app allows your customers to take full control of your heating on the go, easily set time schedules around their daily life and adjust the temperature of their heating through simple voice commands with Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit, and much more…

At Vaillant, we are here to support installers that may be new to heat pump technology. Our Aspire learning pathway has been designed for heating engineers, to enable installers to expand their business and upskill into low carbon technologies. Through completion of the Aspire course, installers will have the chance to become fully MCS accredited.

If you’re looking at a different route, we launched our MCS Umbrella Partner Scheme earlier this year to support those installers who are trained to install heat pumps but would like additional support with the MCS sign off and paperwork.

Both routes will enable you to offer and support your customers with accessing the BUS and HES grants.

* Please be aware that these tariffs were available and correct at the time of publishing this article. Please check directly with the energy providers for more information.

** Actual sum is £229.20. When you add Heat Pump Plus to your plan, your home energy rate will stay the same, but the energy consumed by your heat pump will be charged at an effective rate of 15p per kWh (thanks to payment of your Heat Pump Plus credit).The £229.20 saving is based on an air source heat pump with a UK average Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (or efficiency rating) of 2.8 and an annual consumption of 3,644 kWh with the Heat Pump Plus add-on compared to OVO's average SVT rate of 21.29p per kWh. Actual savings will vary depending on your heat pump usage, efficiency rating and the cost per kWh of your standard home energy tariff.

*** Excludes Northern Ireland.