I have been phoned by something called eco grants sw or similar ( didnt listen hard enough) . They told me I qualified to have all my storage heaters replaced for "free" by government grant. We qualified because OH is retired, we have a detached bungalow and live in the SW. and our storage heaters are old ( as in 1977/ 80 ish old). They said it would not cost us anything.
Is this a scam or is it genuine? Apparently they said there are government grants for this as part of some eco./carbon footprint reduction thing.
Anyone know anything about this?
(PS pre covid lockdown first time the council did send round some guy to ask about our insulation and heating because we had a detached bungalow in an area with no mains gas and facilities etc. and he told us they had priorities for grants on this but we didnt qualify as we were not disabled . However, our address was put on a list)
Someone living in Portsmouth had his storage heaters replaced by a free gas central heating system complete with radiators. Done by the local authority from what I remember.
Can't remember who he was, but posted here regularly. He might see this and reply.
The golden rule: never agree to anything you're cold called about. The only people who cold call are cowboys, because the people who are good have enough work to keep them busy.
Did they say what they were going to replace the storage heaters with? More storage heaters?
Put your postcode in here:
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it'll tell you what grants are available locally and nationally.
In particular the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) may apply to you.
Try asking your council? The above link may tell you the name of the scheme / who to contact.
Just check what they are going to replace them with.
If they're electric radiators filled with magic German clay, or some thermal store type systems, they can end up costing you many times more £ to run than storage heaters. Even "smart" storage heaters can cost more to run although they use less electricity (making them "greener" because they use more peak-rate electricity and less off-peak.
I can see even conventional storage heaters becoming less and less worthwhile as people start using off peak electricity to charge their EVs. I think that the factor was 3x when I started using Economy 7 in
1998 which fell to 2x when I left the flat in 2015. Also they bump up the peak rate when you switch to Economy 7 to make off peak look less.
I might agree with except for one thing. These grants usually have a limited life, and most companies will either soon go out of business or shrink down to a one-man band. The only way to then grow is through telephone sales or local leaflets etc, ie some form of marketing until the grants run out again.
It's a crazy business, but that seems to be how subsidies work.
a) they did say storage heaters. I was asked what heating we had already. Apparently it is update existing forms of heating only, not change it. Open fires are also changed for storage heaters. They didnt say it was something else. I would have to ask.
b) I put my postcode in and apparently they are doing some sort of eco scheme here.
c) I am not in the habit of signing on dotted lines at any time, least of all for calls on a telephone. But changing my heaters or putting in anything else will cost a lot of money. I rarely qualify for anything
Marketing is fine - adverts in the paper, the parish magazine, leaflet through the door, web searches etc. If it's a good offer, people will take you up on it.
But cold calling is the lowest form - there is a very low hit rate and a much higher likelihood of convincing vulnerable people to sign up for something they don't understand, and have no chance to evaluate the offer. Perhaps followed by a home visit continuing the pressure sales techniques.
The problem is the grants tend to encourage mushrooming of operators who don't know what they're doing, who are just in it for the easy money. Which is why it's better to go with an established firm - eg if it's internal/external insulation, a general renovations firm should be able to do that. If it's a new boiler, a plumbing and heating firm.
The plumbing firm can stay in business doing bathrooms and such, grants or no grants. The firm whose only purpose is to feed off the grant will go under.
(Sometimes the grants are predicated on using big national installation companies to manage the complexity of doing xxx,000 installs, who sub out the actual work. Those are generally fine, although you may not get much of a customised install and the installer may cut a few corners to do it in limited time)
You have to improve your energy efficiency by a minimum set amount to qualify for the government ECO3 grant - with the ECO4 scheme starting in April this year. It isn't hard to qualify (there are tables about how many points certain work gets) but it will depend on what you already have installed which will determine what you get done. Boiler upgrade grants would be covered if a boiler is very inefficient or non- existent.
I'm not sure where third part independents come into the picture but the primary ECO obligation is on the energy companies who will provide the grant money (by placing the cost on other customers). I wouldn't be comfortable using an independent company which cold calls me.
Being retired isn't sufficient to qualify unless you receive pension credit guarantee. Ofgem lists who qualifies here. Nearly all are means tested except for PIP.
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If you want to take it forward then contact your energy company or any one of the Big Six energy companies (British Gas, EDF Energy, EON, Npower, Scottish Power, SSE) even if you don't use them.
I havent seen any of these grants offered by any so called big reputable firms - I havent seen them offered. No flyers, nothing. I have had one phone call before from someone and one bloke from the council two years ago identifying old outdated houses for a list. Both previous times I was told priority was for disabled and I didnt qualify ( I was also less than 65 then).
I have seen a couple lof internet ads on You Tube saying SW houses can apply for grants and my area was covered, but again, disabled and low income families with young children.
Now I got this one. I dont know if its genuine. if changing my 1970's storage heaters is worth it or not if it proved to be free ( they are also offering to finish insulating my roof - OH started it a few months ago).... Three of my storage heaters do not work anyway! So effectively I use convector heaters for my house now. Fires being dirty and hard for me to hump logs and coal everywhere.
I was at one point looking at opening up my kitchen fireplace and putting in a mulit fuel burner but of course, that isnt green. I recognise that. they dont do replacements for that - or put one in for you.
I had noticed that all the new builds round here ( cos I was looking at them in the paper - not that I want one of the awful things , they are tiny and close together) are all electric. No gas mains. No oil or LPG being put in , just electric.
I wont be contacting anyone - certainly not any of those elctric companies! I had Scotish Power as a provider when I was shifted from Yorkshire energy. Never again. I moved as soon as I could.
I doubt I qualify, so I cant see how if these people offer anything ( I have got them coming for a survey - they want to look at the roof and photograph the old storage heaters to prove they require replacing apparently but I wanted to know ahead of time what I was being offered , if anything).
Obviously, I wont qualify. No one said anything about benefits, just were we over 65 and did we have state pensions.
I will just carry on as I am. I would have liked new heaters. I dont have gas mains ( none in vilage..... we even have septic tanks here). I cant afford to install LPG and besides the price is eye watering now, and oil seems to be going the same way. They may be warmer but I doubt they are much cheaper. Of course cost depends on having the heating on. With strage heaters ( as with a coal fire) you put it on as you need it). We currently have one on low in the bedroom and one on in the main living room ( which doesnt have a fire place as the bungalow was re modelled in the 1970's and that room was an extension, creating a dining room ( or third bedroom ). The main beds and kitchen ( one of which was a sitting room) have the fireplaces. Not much use. unless ylou put in a full central heating system at great cost and I dont want that kind of upheaval frankly. I feel tired and I want a minimum fuss.
Replacing the storage heaters with new ones ( not those german things would have been nice if I could have got it free. Roof insulation would have been nice ( and saved OH going up to do it - b ut he can go and do that if needed) . I will just have to keep on using my little convector heaters - £20 a piece from B&M.
I cant say I am not disappointed but its par for the course and I cant afford to splash out on fancy heat pumps, heating systems or anything else. We dont get benefits, so we cant afford anything. Benefits seem to open all the doors dont they? Never mind.
In short, the biggest bang for buck you will get is insulation. Insulation pays back in lower heating costs every year, without you having to do anything.
Storage heaters take in in electricity what they output in heat. Newer ones may release the heat in different ways or at different times, or hold it for longer, or have a fancy smartphone app, but at the end of the day the efficiency does not change. If you replace them, unless you are opening windows because the storage heaters are overheating the place at the wrong times, the electricity input of new ones is likely to be very similar to the input of new ones.
Since Economy 7 tariffs aren't as good as they used to be, you may find it is actually not much difference compared with a single rate tariff - which means the storage heaters aren't saving you anything over convector / fan heaters. (If you have a smart meter you can enable 30 minute meter readings, see when you are using electricity, and compare with a single rate tariff. You may find the storage heaters don't save you a lot.)
So first on the list for remedies should be insulation, which will stop the heat escaping in the first place. What is the current situation? Do you have cavity walls and are they filled? How much insulation is in the loft? What are the floors made of? What kind of windows do you have? Any draughts?
It is worth getting in touch with your local council or other community 'eco' group, as they may have a thermal camera available to look for places your energy is leaking. You can then focus on the areas that leak most.
If you have a well insulated house (as newbuilds have to be, although they could be better), you don't need very much heating. That means electric heat (especially heat pumps) can be an efficient way to do it, and the bills are reasonable.
Yes, that was me. It was done under the warmerhomes initiative which our council took part in. I'm told the money has been used up, but that may just in my area. It cost us nothing except three day's parking permits for the installer's van.
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We had gas central heating installed with radiators in all living rooms (2) and bedrooms (5) but none in the hallway, bathroom, toliet, kitchen or landings. It's been in three months now and works very well, very pleased. Mind you, we haven't had a really cold spell yet.
We retained three of the nine storage heaters as a backup, quite glad we did now, with gas prices about to rise significantly.
Thank you. I have been told this is under the eco 3 or 4 ( seems some money is left for some things , ie storage heaters if being replaced). Seems also rules have changed and being a pensioner now counts without additional requirements for certain things.
I somehow wonder if I will get anything , or even if I should apply. But the new storage heaters are so expensive compared to old ones ( the last one I bought cost me around £200, now its £700). I really wondered if it was a scam. .
There are about 100 new builds near me built in 2010. In 2016 One of the detached houses immediately adjacent to a footpath had an extension. When the existing cavity wall was opened up as part of the building it was obvious that the only insulation was 1 inch thick sheets of expanded poly (the white stuff) that was just flapping around loose inside the cavity. Utterly ineffective as insulation.
Wherever the NHBC or other private building control companies are involved (i.e. big national building chains) you will find many examples of this sloppiness.
I suugest that you contact you local council and ask them. There's no obligation to take uou any offer. If they are part of a scheme they will tell you if you qualify like we did by having rather small incomes.
I will update this. I had the men come to survey or whatever. Apparently there is money and I should qualify . They seemed to want to concentrate on insulation in the roof though. I was more interested in the heaters as they are expensive.
Anyway, I knocked it on the head because the questions on their form became intrusive in my view. They wanted my NI number and my medical NHS number and two utility bills or bank statements for evidence ..... not sure what of. Anyway. I didnt like it so I said I wasnt bothered. Sorry to bother them and all that.
I did phone the council and apparently the firm are on their list of surveyors and grant applications. But I dont see why they needed my NHS number and my NI number and site of two bills. All recorded on a phone I might add. I felt they were casing the joint to bugle me anytime soon. I hope not.
Any electric heater is going to be expensive to run. Insulation is the best way to require them to run less often.
Do you have solid walls? Any single glazed windows? Aluminium window frames? Loft insulation is a simple job, but it's better to focus on what gets the most return.
If you have a normal loft (simple ceiling and pitched roof) DIY isn't hard if you can physically get up there. If you have no insulation then it's a must to do. If you already have some, depending on the age/thickness it may be better to focus elsewhere.
(if the installers are cowboys, it may be they like loft insulation as it's an easy job. It's hard to say what's best for your situation without further info)
If this is the ECO, it's available to people on certain benefits (including Pension Guarantee Credit):
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your local authority may have their own criteria.
However, as I understand it ECO is driven by an energy supplier, not by the installer. That means you can't just claim the grant with Bloggs Insulation Ltd, first of all you talk to an energy supplier (doesn't have to be your own) as different suppliers offer different services. For example, here Utilita offer insulation and gas boiler replacement:
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Bulb does that and storage heater upgrades:
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You contact the supplier, they tell you what you're eligible for, they arrange for an installer to visit, etc.
So the fact that an installer has cold called and started asking for personal information makes me wary. It is possible the application does need things like NI number to prove (benefit) eligibility but I'd expect all that to go via the energy supplier, not the installer.
I think it is right to be cautious, although it is possible they are applying on a different scheme with different rules.
To make some progress, can you tell us what the scheme is called? Have you any paperwork?
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