MCS umbrella scheme. Anyone done it?

[Oz07]

12 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

No you would not, because there is also a bill to come from the umbrella company who need to do all the work of calculating the heat losses, setting the spec, providing the design, commissioning and signing off the system. In our case that was a big chunk. (Which we agreed before we signed up.)

Do you engage the umbrella scheme beforehand and go with their spec then? Does it limit your choices

[SimonD]

19 hours ago, JohnMo said:

If that's the case something is very wrong with the system. My install cost just over £3500 in parts, so was eligible for £4k cash back, if I went through the grant. Don't think so.

Like I said, the BUS Grant is 2 figures for A2W and your figures are only if you're just considering the heat pump, wiring centre and controls and even then any premium heat pump over a Haier is going to bump you over that very easily, especially if you want to take advantage of the longer warranties where many manufacturer's require a commissioning from someone qualified. If you also count in a heat pump cylinder and parts for the heating system, then you're getting a grant to cover most, if not all of your heating system costs.

If you go with an umbrella firm, which you'd have to do to qualify for the grant, you're then having to fork out something like £1500 for the pleasure of their design, commissioning and paperwork. And if it's a decent umbrella, what you're doing here is getting a design that then doesn't require you to fiddle around modifying and adjusting to work. So the reality is that you're not going to be applying for the grant to earn any money, not if you take the full picture into account.

I think everyone has to take their individual situation into account and decide on what's most appropriate for them.

[flanagaj]

Not sure it is related, but I did reach out to a company about the grant ... and as soon as I mentioned cooling mode.  Their response was "You are unable to get the grant approved if you are including cooling mode"

[-rick-]

12 minutes ago, flanagaj said:

Not sure it is related, but I did reach out to a company about the grant ... and as soon as I mentioned cooling mode.  Their response was "You are unable to get the grant approved if you are including cooling mode"

 

Used to be true, rules were changed recently. (Last year or so)

[flanagaj]

6 minutes ago, -rick- said:

 

Used to be true, rules were changed recently. (Last year or so)

Ok.  Thanks

[MikeSharp01]

On 04/10/2026 at 07:42, Oz07 said:

Do you engage the umbrella scheme beforehand and go with their spec then? Does it limit your choices

Yes because only they can get you the grant so they must do the design or sign off on yours, I put together a design pack for them to pick the bones out of to check and transpose the things they needed for the MCS form and no it did not really limit our choices.

 

They would have been happy, I think, just to get the professional fees for the design and commissioning. I liked the look of their tiny ASHP so I purchased that and a stack of other components from them, sadly their cylinder was not suitable for our space but they rolled our Telford cylinder choice into the design even though we purchased it direct from Telford.

[JohnMo]

3 hours ago, flanagaj said:

cooling mode"

Just check the datasheet to ensure chosen heat pump does it, then never mention it again to the installer or umbrella company - it's just a can of worms that very few understand or want too.

 

When I was looking at heat pumps I looked at the scheme by CoolEnergy, but their heat pump offerings weren't really suitable size wise for us, either a little too small or oversized. So read the datasheets before committing.