With the energy crisis now in full swing and many households around the country struggling with their bills, there has been a surge in the popularity of renewable energy sources. A lot of individuals might have immediately ruled out new methods of energy like heat pumps due to the higher installation costs they carry. However, if you meet certain eligibility criteria you could qualify for a free heat pump grant from the government. Head to Heat Pump Grants to find out if you are eligible today.
What is the ECO scheme?
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme was introduced by the government to help provide affordable heating to households who need it and lower carbon emissions to help meet green emissions targets. The latest rendition of the scheme, ECO4, was introduced in April 2022 and has seen some changes to the eligibility criteria compared to its predecessor.
This means that funding is now available not only to those who are receiving benefits and your overall income is taken into consideration. As part of ECO4, 50% of measures will be provided under LA Flex, meaning help is available for households who are deemed to be ‘low income’ (below £31,000) even though they are not claiming any benefits.
The scheme places responsibility on energy companies across the country to provide free heat pump grants to those who qualify.
How can a heat pump grant help you?
Based on the size of your home, installation costs for an air source heat pump can be around £7,000-£13,000. With a heat pump grant, you could receive funding of up to £5,000 through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to cover a large amount of the costs, beginning from April 2022. Also, funding is available for vulnerable households through the ECO4 scheme, so it has become much more possible for people to get an air source heat pump grant.
Who can qualify for a heat pump grant under the ECO4 scheme?
There are multiple ways that you could be eligible for heat pump grant funding. As previously mentioned, under the ECO4 scheme, eligibility is more closely related to household income than in previous versions of the scheme. This works to ensure that fuel poor households who are not receiving any benefits can still have access to renewable energy funding.
In the past, a lot of households might have been prevented from applying for energy grants because they didn’t receive any benefits, despite them being low-income households.
As well as eligibility that is based on income-related benefits, there is the possibility of grants for households that have an overall income of £31,000 or less. Also, the scheme mainly aims to help homes that have a low Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) bands D, E, F, to G to increase their EPC rating.
Funding through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is open to households where a heat pump is replacing a fossil fuel system or direct electric system and the heat pump will provide all of the heating for the property, including hot water.
