Save £100s Each Year With a Heat Pump
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Government-funded grants are available to eligible candidates throughout the UK.
Just follow these simple points to see if you qualify.
Your current heating is inefficient
You have sufficient outdoor space
Your home is well insulated
You want to reduce energy costs
As of March 2022 – Pay 0% VAT on Heat Pumps
Funding grants worth thousands are available to eligible households to help towards the cost of installing a heat pump. Under the ECO4 scheme or the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, it is the leading energy companies who are under the obligation to provide air source heat pump grants to those who qualify.
Grants are free and will allow you to get a heat pump at a fraction of the cost. You do not have to pay any of the grant back.
An air source heat pump and fan unit looks typically like an air conditioning unit and is usually placed next to an external wall and fitted to the ground, with pipes installed to carry hot water through them. Air source heat pumps are a type of renewable energy technology that allows you to produce energy from outside air, meaning you could save significantly on your energy bills.
Unlike the majority of home heating systems, which either burn fuel or convert electricity into heat, air source heat pumps are different. Instead, they suck in air that is outside, it is then condensed, heating it to generate warmth for the home. This makes them a more efficient eco-friendly option as they bring in more heat energy than the electrical energy that is required to run the heat pump, so an air source system will normally cost less to run than a traditional heating system.
Funding is available to eligible households as part of the government-backed ECO4 Scheme as well as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme were applicants can receive a grant worth up to £5,000. The funding is provided by many of the main energy suppliers as part of their obligation to help make homes in England, Scotland & Wales more energy efficient and reduce their energy bills.
At a time when households are under increasing pressure from the escalating cost of energy bills, the scheme will target those that are likely to struggle with the cost of heating their homes as well as those whose property has a low Energy Performance Certificate band (D to G) and is therefore highly inefficient.
Changes to the ECO4 Scheme, compared to the previous ECO3 scheme, meaning that funding is available not just to those who are in receipt of government benefits. Under ECO4, 50% of measures will be delivered under LA Flex, meaning assistance is available for those who are classed as a ‘low income’ household (under £31,000) even though they do not claim benefits.
Simply put, an air source heat pump functions similarly to a fridge but it works in reverse, to heat the home. They transfer heat rather than generate it. Here is a breakdown of how it works:
Depending on the size of your property, air source heat pump installation costs can vary from around £7,000 – £13,000. With a heat pump grant, you can get funding of up to £5,000 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to cover a sizeable portion of the costs, starting from April 2022. Additionally, funding for vulnerable households is available under the ECO4 scheme, so it could be possible to get an air source heat pump, as well as additional ECO measures, via solar panel grants (click here) or insulation grants (click here).
There are various ways in which you might be eligible for a free air source heat pump. Under the ECO4 Scheme, eligibility is closely related to household income to ensure that fuel poor households who are not in receipt of benefits are still able to access the available funding. Previously many households may have been prevented from applying for energy grants they did not receive any benefits, even though they were low-income households.
Aside from eligibility based on benefits, there is the option of grants for households that have a household income of £31,000 or less. Additionally, the scheme aims to primarily help homes with a low Energy Performance Certificate bands D, E, F to G to boost their EPC rating. The installers must be MCS certified and there must be no recommendations on the valid EPC for loft and cavity wall insulation.
Funding under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme or clean heat grant is available to households where a heat pump is replacing an existing fossil fuel system or direct electric system and the heat pump will provide all heating, as well as domestic hot water. Until the scheme is launched, you could make use of the current Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme aims to grant up to £5,000 (air source heat pumps) or up to £6,000 for ground source heat pumps towards the replacement of boilers to eligible UK homeowners.
The government has allocated £450 million pounds towards this plan and will give out their limited budget on a first-come, first-served basis.
Those who can apply to this scheme are property owners (either domestic or commercial) with at least 45kWth in installation capacity.
You will also need an Energy Performance Certificate. You can get this by undergoing a test on your house’s energy efficiency, ranked from A (highly efficient) to G (inefficient). Not only do you need this certificate, but you need one with no outstanding recommendations for insulation installation in your loft or walls.
The scheme covers three different types of heating systems:
If you require more information about the Boiler Upgrade Scheme click here to continue reading.
You don’t need to be claiming benefits.
A highly efficient and cost-effective way of heating your home and providing hot water.
Renewable Source of Heating
Efficiency can exceed 300%
Can provide heating and domestic hot water
Performs at temperatures as low as -20°C
Low noise levels
Installation within 2-4 days
Low maintenance
Government incentives up to £5,000
Air source heat pumps are a highly efficient way to heat your home, with running costs far lower than what you’d typically pay for a standard heating system and you can also save on the initial cost with a Government heat pump grant.
Why choose air source over a traditional boiler?
Traditional boilers are dependent on gas which is rapidly increasing in cost, making them a more costly option to run.
Heat pumps are a highly efficient, much greener alternative to other forms of heating like gas boilers.
With a focus on the UK moving away from fossil fuel heating and transitioning to more energy efficient systems (for example, the government banning all new homes from installing gas and oil boilers by 2025), this means that low-carbon heating alternatives are becoming commonplace. This means that it is only a matter of time before most households that are suitable will have an air source heat pump system that will help them use less fossil fuels and save energy and reduce their bills.
The ECO4 scheme is a government-backed initiative that sees energy suppliers obliged to help households improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The scheme is open to all homeowners in the UK regardless of whether they own or rent their property.
Under the scheme, eligible households can receive free or discounted energy efficiency measures, such as an air source heat pump, to help them reduce the cost of heating their home and contribute towards the overall drive to reduce carbon emissions. For more information on the ECO scheme click here.
Air source heat pumps are not dependent on specific weather conditions, so it doesn’t matter geographically where you live. What is more a priority is the type of property you have, and your current heating system. Air source heat pumps heat water to a lower temperature than fossil fuel boilers, so they are most suitable for heating well-insulated homes with underfloor heating, or where there are large radiators that function at lower temperatures. However, systems can sometimes be installed without these.
The majority of heating systems in the home rely on burning fuel or converting electricity into heat. Heat pumps differ and are more efficient because they don’t generate heat, but instead extract existing heat energy from outside into your home. By delivering more heat energy than the electrical energy they run off, a heat pump system is more cost-effective than a traditional heating system such as a boiler.
An ASHP system needs electricity to work, but uses less than the quantity of heat they move from outside to inside, leading to savings. The amount you save will depend on a number of factors including your heat pump set up, the heating system you have replaced, your electricity tariff, the costs of the fuel you are replacing, plus your location and the average air or ground temperatures throughout the year. If you benefit from the financial assistance towards an air pump you could save several hundred pounds on heating each year. With the escalating costs of energy being experienced in recent months, the savings will be larger than ever.
In England and Scotland, air source heat pumps don’t normally require planning permission unless the building is listed or is in a Conservation area, area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or a National park. Those in Wales do need planning permission to install a heat pump. If unsure, you should check with the local planning department.
The external fan does make a small amount of noise, but not much different to that generated by a fridge freezer. If the building is double-glazed then any noise will not be noticeable within the property. ASHPs run much quieter during the warmer months as they don’t need to work as hard to draw in the hot air. Read more about ‘How noisy are heat pumps?’.
In March 2020, the UK government introduced the Green Homes Grant scheme to help householders improve the energy efficiency of their homes and make them more environmentally friendly.
These initiatives apply to renewable heating systems or solutions such as air source heat pumps, ground-source heat pumps, hybrid systems, biomass boilers, and solar thermal panels. These will help you cover the cost and benefit financially from installing an air source heat pump or ground source heat pump at your property.
The scheme is part of the government’s wider plan to reduce carbon emissions and make homes more energy efficient. In order to be eligible for the scheme, householders must own their homes and have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
The Green Homes Grant closed all new applications on the 31st of March 2021.
There are a number of different government grants for home improvements and house repairs available in the UK. However, certain charities and advice centres, like
From the age of 66, men and women in the UK are deemed to be at pensionable age and are entitled to claim their state
What is the Warm Homes Fund? Overview The Warm Homes Fund (WHF) is a £150 million support fund that was commissioned by Affordable Warmth Solutions
Heat Pump Grants is a trading style of Lead Pronto Ltd, a Company registered in England & Wales, company number 11563815.
