Are you trying to learn more about free home energy efficiency grants in the UK? Do you want to know how you can claim free home improvements for your home via the eco4 scheme?
The eco4 scheme is a UK government scheme designed to help low income families lower their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint by improving the energy efficiency of their homes.
Read this article to learn more about the scheme including if you're eligible, how to know if you're eligible and what you can claim for free.
How to Qualify for the ECO4 Scheme?
The best way of looking at this is to look at it from two fronts - does the heating system/house qualify and do any members of the household qualify? You need to qualify on both fronts.
Does your property qualify?
For your home to qualify, it has to have an EPC (energy performance certificate) rating of D, E, F or G. The main contributing factor to a poor EPC rating is its heating system and insulation.
To make this easier to understand, if your home has any of the following, your home most likely qualifies:-
- A non-condensing boiler - your boiler is non-condensing if it doesn't have a plastic condensate pipe coming out the bottom or going to a drain. A back boiler is also a non-condensing boiler.
- No central heating - if your home has gas and/or electric heaters it would more than likely qualify.
Does somebody in your household qualify?
Most eco4 grants are awarded to households that receive income-based benefits. Here's a list of the benefits that qualify a household for the eco4 scheme:-
- Universal Credit
- Pension Credit (Guarantee or savings credit)
- Income Support
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
What Home Improvements Can Be Claimed on the ECO4 Scheme?
There are a lot of different home improvements that can be claimed via the eco4 scheme. All the home improvements are designed to reduce the energy consumption of the home.
Here are several examples of what can be claimed:-
- New A-rated energy-efficient gas boilers - can be fitted when the property has an old inefficient boiler such as a back boiler or a non-condensing boiler
- First-time central heating - If a property has never had central heating and has run on gas or electric heaters, a brand-new central heating system can be installed for free.
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Air source heat pumps - when a heat pump is installed on the eco4 scheme, the property can also benefit from solar panels.
- Solar panel installations - these are commonly installed alongside heat pumps. This means the solar panels can generate the electricity to run the heat pump and heat the property. Solar panels can also be linked to immersion heaters to heat hot water tanks.
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Smart heating controls - such as Hives and Nests
- Full home insulation - including cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and underfloor insulation.
Do You Qualify for the ECO4 Scheme?
To find out if you qualify for the eco4 scheme simply fill out this form on the Heat My House website and let us do all the hard work.
Heat My House can find out if you qualify for the eco4 scheme in less than a week and in most cases have your new home improvements installed within a fortnight!
Summary
The eco4 scheme is a great opportunity for low income households to benefit from free energy-efficient home improvements. An egilible household can increase the value of their home by £20,000 whilst reducing their energy bills.
It's easy to find out if you and your household are eligible, simply enter your details into this form and let Heat My House do all the running around.
