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Government grants for air source heat pumps are widely available for UK households to meet their energy requirements. These grants not only help them heat their homes but also save on energy costs, which helps alleviate fuel poverty. Air source heat pump grants are initiated to meet the EPC standards, lower the carbon footprints, and make UK homes more energy efficient.
In this blog, we will provide an overview of top government grants for air-source heat pumps. These grants are currently running and serving different areas of the UK. Stick to this guide as one of these schemes can take care of all the energy efficiency measures of your house. So, let’s get straight into this.
3 Government Grants for Air Source Heat Pumps
Air source heat pumps have been a great source of energy-efficient heat. They have fewer carbon emissions, lower energy bills, and help alleviate fuel poverty. For the same reasons, the government has launched several schemes to get these installed for UK households at minimum or no cost at all.
Below are the details for all three heating grants which provide air-source heat pumps along with other benefits.
Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4)
ECO4 (Energy Company Obligation) is a government-funded initiative to help vulnerable households. For households, who struggle to keep their homes warm and pay the energy bills, these grants are the true blessings. The main purpose of these grants is to meet the EPC standards, build more energy-efficient heating systems, and lower carbon emissions.
Under this scheme, vulnerable households get various types of energy efficiency measures. Those measures include boiler schemes, air source heat pumps, central heating systems, and insulation measures. Hence, this scheme is carried out with a “whole house” approach where all the household energy efficiency measures are taken care of by the government to meet the EPC standards.
For air source heat pumps, both air to air and air to water heat pumps are installed. However, if other measures are required such as walls or roof insulations, ECO4 also covers those additional costs.
Eligibility Criteria:
Here is the eligibility criteria to get air source heat pump through ECO4 scheme:
- Boiler System Installed Before 2005
- Benefit Recipient
- Homeowner or Tenants With Permission
- Eligible Property Style
- Epc Rating D or Lower
Meeting this criteria will not automatically qualify you for these grants, property specifics might be a deciding factor.
Eligible Government Benefits for ECO4 Grants
Here are a few benefits that are eligible to qualify for the ECO4 scheme.
- Income Based – Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
- Income Related – Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support Allowance (ISA)
- Working Tax Credit (WTC)
- Child tax credit (CTC)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Pension Guarantee Credit
- Pension Savings Credit
- Housing Benefits
Considering this eligibility criteria, if you qualify for air source heat pump grants, you can reach out to Free Boilers Grants for reliable installations, free of cost.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)
The Boiler Upgrade scheme is available for England and Wales residents tired of high energy bills and struggling to keep their houses warmer. The government of the United Kingdom provides capital grants to cover heat pump installations, such as air to air and in some scenarios, biomass boilers to support the energy efficiency initiatives of UK households. BUS grants serve the purpose of decarbonisation of residential heating systems. This reduces the carbon emissions, improves energy ratings, and saves on energy bills.
The current budget of the BUS scheme is £180 million which will be raised to £295 million by the year 2025-26. Under these grants, the installers can apply on the behalf of houseowners to get their air source heat pumps installed at affordable prices.
Here are the amounts of grants vulnerable households can avail by meeting the simple eligibility criteria.
- £7500 off for the air source heat heat pump costs and installation.
This grant may not fully fulfil the pump and installation costs so additional charges may be required to fund the air source heat pump installation.
Eligibility Criteria for BUS Grants
To qualify for these government grants, the eligibility criteria includes but not limited to:
- The property must be of eligible type (newly constructed properties are not eligible).
- EPC with no loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations (not older than 10 years).
There still might be exceptions where your property might not be eligible for BUS grants. However, social houses are not eligible for this scheme and the homes already part of the ECO4 scheme are also the exception.
Home Upgrade Grant 2 (HUG2)
Like ECO4 grants, the HUG2 was also released in phases, while the second phase is currently serving UK households. This scheme is government funded but governed by the local authorities. HUG2 focuses on properties that are off the gas grid and has a lower energy efficiency measure, and are low-income households as well. Homeowners facing difficulties in keeping their home warmer and keeping the energy bills in-check are preferred for these grants.
The thing to cater for is this grant is available for England residents only, so if you are living in some other part of the UK, you can focus on BUS, ECO4, or other local authority grants.
Eligibility Criteria for HUG2:
Same like other schemes, HUG2 grants also have a criteria you need to meet before you can avail air source heat pump or other energy efficiency measures from the local authority government.
Here is the eligibility criteria:
- Low-Income Households
- Houses are Off gas grid
- Have an EPC rating between D and E.
- Lives in a qualifying local authority area.
To check if you live in a qualifying local authority area, you can check on the Gov. uk website by entering your postcode in the search box on the page dedicated to checking eligible local authority areas.
Final Thoughts
To wrap up the discussion, there are several government grants for air source heat pumps available at national, regional, and local levels. All these grants help vulnerable households in the UK to keep their homes warmer and limit energy bills by installing energy efficient heating systems. Apart from air source heat pumps, these grants also offer several measures to meet the EPC rating requirements.
In this blog, we have listed top 3 government grants for air source heat pumps. these grants entertains low-income and low-energy-efficiency households. Now it’s your turn, you need to contact the best installers like Free Boilers Grants to ask them to apply on your behalf.
