€2.5k grant for wood pellet boilier?? anyone got more details??

beolight

a supplier mentioned this to me in email today, supposedly available from next month

anybody know anymore??

looks like a step in right direction if correct

iplogger1

Beolight,

We got a letter in the post (and 3-4 wood pellets in a mini sample bag) from a supplier called eco-logic solutions in Mayo who headlined their accompanying letter to suggest that government grants were imminent (in the next 2 months if I recall). I've no idea of the veracity of this claim or where they are getting there info from or if they might be riding on founded or unfounded speculation.
They don't qualify this claim within the rest of the covering literature.

~ipl

beolight

more info from supplier gerkos i think

"The Grant is being published on 27th March where all the finer details will be made known but in summary it is €2.5k for approved Wood Pellet Boilers (which ours is) irrespective of whether it is new build, renovation or replacing an oil system. SEI are administering the scheme for the Government"

email to SEI might clarify things

Wobs

Just Heard today that grants will also be coming in for geothermal from next monday. Nothing confirmed yet but possible up to 25% of the cost. This may sway some of you who are himing and hahing with regards to the cost of geo!

JimmySmith

Best to get all your quotes quick then.
May even be too late.
I would think that quotes for boilers and installation will go up by about the same as the grand

dogg_r_69

The sister was onto SEI last week and they told her it'll be summer time before there'll be a grant for the wood pellet boiler

rooferPete

Hi,

I was wondering when the grant topic would appear, I must say that I am more than annoyed at any company who is claiming to know all the facts regarding the launch date, or how much is being allocated to each area.

Wood Pellet / Biomas, Solar, Geothermal, are among the systems being considered, what annoys me is there was a general agreement Not To Disclose the unfinished information to the general public until All The Facts, Figures and Launch Date were Finalised.

Every dog in the street and the pups have known that there was a grant system being put in place since the Budget when the Minister Announced a large sum of money being assigned to such grants.

I have taken part in the discussions and submissions with the relevant authorities which accounts for some of the very late nights I have been working in the last while.

The way I have approached this matter with Consumers is to ask that they Trust Me Not to Cost them Any Money with regard to possible grants pending final decisions.

I will now step out of from the Grey Area that may have cost me sales to confirm there will be a formal announcement soon regarding grants for Some Renewable Energy Systems.

I will go further and suggest that Nobody Places An Order with Any Supplier based on the information available Today as it can only be speculation on the part of any supplier.

FWIW, Eco Stoves and Boilers along with Solar Ireland will not be Increasing Prices when the Details are Announced, for that matter they Will Not Be Reducing Prices Either.

I am not claiming the high moral ground but I do believe that all business should have an element of honesty and integrity as part of it's foundation and to pre-empt any announcement to gain a few sales when nothing has been finalised could lead to some very disappointed consumers.

Anyone who has been visiting the SEI web site will have noticed that there has been a lot of movement with regard to Decisions and Submissions being called for in relation to the Pending Grants.

I believe I am not breachng any confidences when I state that Nothing has been Finalised until Everything (including amounts, dates etc) has been Finalised.

.

CJhaughey

I can see the same thing happening here as happened in France, grant aid for solar thermal systems is 50% now used to be 40% and the prices have gone up accordingly, right from the manufacturer to the installer everyone takes their little percentage and keeps quiet.
The only solution is to reduce VAT rates to a small figure 5% or so to avoid profiteering, I am not aiming this at you Pete but simply stating the fact that in this country robbing people is now a legitimate pastime and that this will simply go the same way as any other grant aid scheme.

dras

Hi,

i heard talk of this about a month ago and emailed SEI. They said it was in preparation and would email me back when things were finalised - no email yet!

Unfortunately, i would be as cynical as CJHaughey about price increases - look at the euro changeover for example.

Idleater

dras wrote:

Unfortunately, i would be as cynical as CJHaughey about price increases - look at the euro changeover for example.

Just wondering, why would the availability of a grant lead to price increases? is it because *some* retailers would assume that since the punter is getting €2000 or whatever off the government that they can charge €1000 or whatever extra because it is still "cheaper" than the price without the grant???

In my naivity, I would have thought that with a grant, the demand would increase and as a result the price would drop. Assuming of course that the manugfacturers supplied more stoves.

Perhaps I have just answered my own question there...

L.

morgana

Thats some good news, as the old oil boiler will need replacing soon and I was thinking of delaying a decisiion for another year in the hope of grants being available for RE systems. I have looked at wood pellet boilers but had to put them aside as being to expensive. If a grant can shift that towards the just about affordable if pushed it is a good thing.
With regard to installers putting up their prices in line with any grant, wouldn't they be stopping more people from having such systems installed as the price hadn't gone down in real terms? Such kind of short-term thinking and profit surely can't be good for anyone?

rooferPete

Hi,

CJ,
I do see where you are coming from and I agree that there may be some suppliers who will try to inflate the prices, I believe we have two advantages over countries like France and the UK :

The first being that the market is very competitive among the suppliers, there are a lot more servcing the Irish market than many appear to know about.

The second being that Ireland is a small country where word does spread very fast especially among consumers who believe prices are being inflated for no other reason except the fact that a grant system is in place.

FWIW, I did propose the Zero VAT rate as some of the grants will not be equal to the amount of VAT collected, the main reason this was not seen to be viable is another level of Government would have to get involved and revenue is not seen as a grant or incentive department.

nereid,
You do have a very valid point regarding the supply of Pellet Stoves and Boilers, already without grants in place the demand on the Continent is so strong that some manufacturers have difficulty servicing their home market, so export to a small country like Ireland is not a priority for some.

The reasons are easy to understand, every country has felt the increasing cost of oil products, also many in Europe received a "Wake up call" following the discovery that Russia can increase the cost of natural gas by 500% and if the country does not want to pay the gas can be switched off.

There were a lot of people in Europe who did not realise they were so dependant on Russia for natural gas, also every country can be subjected to high carbon tax's if they do not comply with the Kyoto Agreement.

However I do believe the increase in the market will keep the prices of the appliances stable, also the increased demand for pellet fuel will make it worth the investment for companies similar to Balcas to enter the fuel market here.

Morgana,

I believe you are right because when I started to research the products available they did cost a lot more than today and that was at a time when Ireland did not have a manufacturer for the fuel.

Also in the past three years the number of companies importing bagged fuel from Europe has grown to the point where the cost of a bag of fuel has dropped by two euro, and that is without any incentives.

I do know that the suppliers and installers of any grant aided product will be monitored and if prices are seen to increase without very good reason the proposed system is such that any supplier / installer can be excluded from the grant process.

.

Builderwoman!

I was told last week that the announcement is supposed to be Monday next 27th March but SEI are keeping stum on it when I called them they said it could be the summer. Someone I know in the business told me that the announcement could be held off until the Energy Show in the summer. Who knows...we'll wait until Monday and see?!

Pataman

I was referred to a lady in the Dept of Marine and Local Resources, who told me that it will be announced, for definate, on monday. She wouldn't give me a figure. It was to cover pellet heating, solar power and geo thermal.