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Grants for solar thermal water heating available

Some Kent residents are being offered grants to install equipment that will cut their energy bills and carbon emissions.

Up to £1,500 is being offered by Sevenoaks District Council to households to install solar thermal water heating devices.

A liquid in the devices captures the suns heat and is then circulated in pipes around the hot water tank, transferring the warmth to the home's hot water supply.

Heating water consumes a significant portion of a homes total energy use.

Councillor Carol Clark, Sevenoaks District Council cabinet member with responsibility for home energy efficiency, said: "Using solar energy can provide some great savings on your utility bills, and with this scheme providing a huge discount on the cost of a solar energy system, it is the perfect chance to think about installing such a system in time for hopefully a sun filled few summer months!"

Together with a grant from the Low Carbon Building Programme, households could get almost half off a solar heating device, speeding up how quickly it pays for itself.

Payback could happen even more quickly if the government decides to introduce incentives for renewable heating, a possibility opened up by the Energy Act.

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