With the energy cost soaring higher each year, the government has taken steps to reduce the energy bill of families across the UK by reducing the amount of energy families consume. Among the efforts that the government has used to reduce the energy consumption across the UK is through the energy efficiency scheme, where families with no financial capacity to replace their inefficient boilers are given grants to do so.
The government funded scheme, dubbed as the “affordable heat” scheme is designed to give families with low income an opportunity to get a more efficient boiler. The free boiler upgrade in its current foam operated under the Energy Company Obligation – ECO. The ECO scheme was introduced in 2013 to run all through to 2017. This iteration of the scheme replaced the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) as well as the Community Energy Saving Programme.
Why Change Your Boiler
The main aim of this scheme is to lower the cost of heating homes and reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, under the ECO scheme, the top players in the energy supply market are legally compelled to install energy efficient heating technology in households where the combined total income of the working adults does not exceed the set threshold. In this regard, the companies are compelled to install an A-rated boiler.
An A-Rated boiler is a boiler that is rated at 90% efficient, meaning that it only loses 10% of the energy input in the energy to heat conversion process. Conversely, the boilers and heating systems made and installed 10 to 15 years ago are rated as being 65% – 80% energy efficient. With the A-Rated boilers and heating systems, there are massive financial saving to be made. For starters, the boiler is designed to consume less energy to heat up a house to the occupant’s comfort level. It is estimated that a household can make as much as £300 to £310 per year on energy bills. Such savings are no meagre saving.
Requirements And Installation
However, certain thresholds must be met for a household to be eligible to receive a free boiler replacement. As mentioned, households should not exceed to a certain maximum gross income. The income threshold is set to ensure that the most vulnerable and deserving households benefit from the scheme. In addition to income, the households must have a boiler in place. In fact the household, whether a homeowner or tenant should have been using their boiler for the past ten years.
However, you should note that the requirements tend to change over time as the energy companies seek to meet their annual minimum obligation. The participating energy companies face huge fines when they fail to meet their obligation in implementing the boiler replacement scheme. Closely related to the relenting of requirements is boiler grant priority areas. These are places around the UK where the uptake of energy efficient boilers is below the average of other areas. Thus people in these areas face favourable condition is as far as getting the boiler replacement grant is concerned.
Families that meet the requirement set in boiler replacement scheme, they are directed to a participating local installer with whom they arrange the intricate details of how best to go about the installation process.