Four senior heating industry figures have sent a letter to Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the inclusion of air to water heat pumps in the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Dave Sowden, chief executive of The Micropower Council, Kelly Butler, marketing director of BEAMA, Roger Webb, director of the Heating and Hot Water Industry Council (HHIC) and Tony Bowen, president of the Heat Pump Association (HPA), have all signed the letter which outlines their concerns about the absence of RHI for air to water heat pumps, saying that it is now "starting to distort the commercial heating market due to the unfair competitive advantage the RHI brings to competing technologies."

They are also worried about suggestions that the Government might further delay the inclusion of air to water commercial heat pumps until summer 2013, when the second phase of the scheme is expected to be introduced.

The letter says: "Whilst the supply chain had to reluctantly accept this distortion for the brief period to October 2012, the suggestion it could now be substantially delayed further is almost certainly going to have a damaging consequence for this important technology, causing it to be even more disadvantaged compared to other technologies after yet a further year of unfair competition."

It concludes by urging Mr Barker to confirm that the Government will keep to its previous commitment of including the technology in the RHI in October this year.