Feed-in Tariff for wood pellet burner?

[Davey]

Our local paper has a half-page advert for a company supplying stoves that use wood pellets, aka a Biomass Stove. My brother in Germany installed one of these a few years ago, and loves it. This advert may be the same item. But the advert also talks about how much money we would save due to the Feed-in Tariff. Is there a(n) FIT available because you have a Biomass Stove? I thought it was for sending power back into the grid, but there is no mention of that here. Most confusing. Almost the perfect definition/example of FUD.

[Andy Burns]

There is for big ones, apparently it's low enough to allow them to go bust ...

[Dave Liquorice]

If they use Feed in Tariff in relation to a pellet boiler and not Solar PV, run away as they have a basic fact wrong.

There is a similar payment system for biomass, heat pumps, solar thermal(*) called Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The staged application process for getting onto the domestic RHI scheme is now in progress.

Energy Savings Trust is a good place to start but you may get refered to Ofgem who are running it. Note the money fro the RHI comes from central government not an electricity bill levy like FITs payments.

(*) Solar Thermal provided it is either part of a hybrid system with a biomass boiler or stand alone hot water only. If you have a hybrid system with an oil/lpg boiler you don't qualify. Guess what system we put in with the thought it would be nice to (eventually) get a bit back via the RHI.

But the buggers changed the rules some time between the consultation and what has been implemented, not only bringing in this hybrid restriction but also needing to get a GD assessment and an EPC and if you got the RHPP that gets deducted as well. So the £1500 over 7 years that our solar thermal would have brought in, is reduced to less than £1000 or about £11/month. Hardly worth the time and effort

involved to get the bits of paper, apply, etc...

[Davey]

Have no fear, I am in now way interested in changing my system; but the reference to FIT puzzled me.

This is the company with the advert. The advert makes more mention of FIT than the website does, it also mentions RHI. It could almost have been written by the same people who wrote the 'ban-the-plt' website, only this time with enthusiasm for the subject.

The advert. states:

"Typical example Biomass RHI current spend £1500 per year on heating o il Cost saving biomass pellets 30-50%=£531 Renewable Heat Incentive payments @ 12.2p = £2,815

Total Annual gain £3,346

7 Year payment totals £23,422 Tax free + Index linked Tax free."

And then lots of asterisked caveats about the varying rates of tariffs and savings according to time of day, means tests, T&Cs, etc.

They don't actually say that the FIT is due, but the implication is right there in front of you.

It was the similarity of the Biomass boiler to my brother's that made me look in the first place.