The Most Common Mistakes Homeowners Make When Hiring a Renewable Energy Installer

Renewable energy installations can swallow more than just a chunk of your savings before dramatically reducing your electricity or heating costs. Between solar panels, heat pumps, and storage, homeowners risk parting with thousands of pounds, making the wrong hiring choice exceptionally expensive.

MCS-certified installers should be close to the top of the list of must-investigate items; however, there are also plenty of other crucial considerations to be made ahead of signing on the dotted line. Read more to find out where homeowners tend to lose money and how to avoid becoming one of the next unfortunate owners of this knowledge.

Choosing the Cheapest Quotation without Investigating Hidden Charges

Everybody loves a bargain, and with current home improvements being as expensive as they are, choosing the cheapest available renewable energy quote seems perfectly fair. What might seem like an unbeatable value at first glance, however, could contain several extra charges not accounted for at the lowest price point.

Withhold judgment from choosing that first attractive quote you see online, and request at least two other detailed quotations. Solar installations, for instance, might require scaffolding, a new inverter, as well as electrical work, whereas heat pumps might mean upgrading radiators and adjusting your pipework. Investigate extra charges, including labor costs, equipment, equipment warranties, commissioning, waste disposal, and commissioning. Companies that fail to clarify pricing details should be flagged at least by comparison with your neighbor's supposedly brilliant driveway renovation.

Assuming All Installers Will Have the Necessary Certification

Having websites and customer feedback portraying companies favorably can give even the most critical person the illusion that they already know what they're doing. Choosing an MCS-certified installer, however, means knowing that this particular company has undertaken the required steps to operate up to standard with the renewable energy technology they are aiming to install for you.

In addition to selecting a company that has been certified by the MCS, it is vital to make sure the certification is suitable for the technology intended for installation. A company certified to install solar panels might not necessarily be qualified to work on heat pumps, although there are certainly some companies with the necessary qualifications to work on any type of renewable energy project.

If you are eligible to apply for some sort of government-backed grant, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, certain MCS certifications are also mandatory to ensure suitability with local building regulations before any work can start.

Believing All Promises Made about Energy Savings

Solar panels that promise to free you completely from electricity bills and heat pumps assuring you of massive reductions in heating costs should be met with skepticism, as both are much more affected by variables specific to your household before producing extraordinary results.

Request calculations with your installation requirements and energy outputs in mind to determine realistic energy savings and carbon emission reductions. Solar quotations should ideally include an estimate of electricity production in kilowatt-hours (kWh) that could potentially meet the electrical demand of your property, and heat pump quotations should provide calculations about heat losses to estimate the likely efficiency of any given system.

Simply put, a system likely to produce 4,000 kWh of electricity a year will generate different energy savings if the majority of it is going to be used by your home compared to if you were to sell most of it back to the grid.

Forgetting to Check for Grants and Installation Documentation

Government initiatives can be incredibly valuable additions to helping fund home renewable energy installations, so it's perfectly normal for people to want to investigate them. The eligibility criteria for these initiatives, by contrast, should be thoroughly examined ahead of signing any contract associated with them.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme found in England and Wales offers grants to properties fitting certain criteria for heat pump installations, with the amount of the grant varying according to the technology and property type. The installer handling your quotation should normally manage the application process, which will have to appear as a discount on your quotation for the grant to be considered an upfront discount.

Ask what documentation you will be given at the end of the installation, specifically commissioning records, relevant building regulation certificates, warranties, and MCS installation certificates. While hiring an MCS-certified installeris especially useful for projects applying for some sort of government-backed grant, it will only serve to further benefit you if you're considering selling the property at some point soon after renovations, as documentation might come into play when fulfilling warranty or building regulation requirements.

Getting Your Renewable Energy Project off to a Better Start with EHS

Spending thousands or more on renewable energy investments should require people to conduct their due diligence before entering into any large financial commitment. Taking shortcuts can incur exorbitant costs and problems months, if not years, into an investment when the installation team has already left the premises.

EHS is a fantastic place to visit if you're planning to start contemplating any renewable heating project and require professional guidance before entering into any large commitment. Get in touch with EHS to inquire about potential installation solutions for your property and identify what the potential project would entail before signing anything important. A little investigation can prevent a lifetime of expensive headaches.

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