The government introduced the boiler scheme as part of ECO3 to help qualifying homeowners to get a brand new eco friendly boiler for free or at a fraction of the price you would normally pay. The scheme is open to UK homeowners and some private tenants, with the grants for tenants scheme providing for a new central heating system to be installed including a boiler and radiators with all the relevant pipework and control panels. Grants are given by the main six energy suppliers: Scottish Power, British Gas, E.ON, EDF, SSE, and nPower.
Who will qualify for a free boiler?
Heating your home all year round can be a significant drain on your finances, especially if you are on a tight budget like many pensioners and single parents who own their property might be. Anyone who is a homeowner and meets the other set criteria can apply for a grant through the scheme no matter your personal circumstances. This means you can reduce the stress of paying your heating bills by getting rid of your old inefficient heating system and having a new environmentally friendly one. Also, a new boiler will be much easier to manage for example if you are planning to travel, your smart boiler should be able to be controlled via an app which is a considerably more convenient way to organise your bills.
To be eligible for a free boiler grant under the scheme you must be a homeowner, be claiming at least one income related benefit, and your boiler must be over seven years old. Boilers that are under seven years old are excluded from the scheme as it is assumed that it will be more cost effective to repair your current boiler, than have it replaced with a new one.
The qualifying benefits you or someone in your household should be claiming to apply for a free boiler grant include:
- Child tax credit
- Income related employment support allowance
- Income support
- Income based job seekers allowance
- Working tax credit
- Universal credit
- Pension guaranteed credit
- Disability living allowance
- Personal independence payment
- Attendance allowance
- Carer’s allowance
- Severe disablement allowance
- Industrial injuries disablement benefits
- Ministry of justice benefits
- War pensions mobility supplement
- Constant attendance allowance
- Armed forces independence payment
- Child benefit
What savings could you make with a new boiler?
Once you have your new boiler installed you will begin to see the difference straight away, especially if your old boiler had not been functioning at the capacity you thought. For example, in some cases an old boiler could be wasting as much as a third of every
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