Free Storage Heaters may be available from the Government's ECO Scheme

The Free Storage Heaters Scheme is based on the ‘New for Old’ principle.

That means that you must have broken electric storage heaters installed in your property at the time that your ECO Accredited Surveyor visits your home.

If you qualify for Free Storage Heaters or a Storage Heater Grant towards the cost of replacing them, the installation company MUST be able to remove your old heaters.

Free Storage Heaters Grant Calculation

If you meet Storage Heater Grant Qualifying Criteria, your grant will be based on a number of factors, including:

• The type of home you live in, i.e, detached, semi-detached, terraced or flat.
• How many bedrooms there are in your home.
• How well insulated your home is.
• Whether it was constructed with cavity walls or solid walls.
• Whether you have other forms of heating in addition to storage heaters.

Your storage heater grant will then be compared to the cost of installing the number and size of new heaters recommended by the ECO Scheme. From this, your installer will be able to assess whether any contribution from you will be required or not.  If not, you will have free storage heaters installed in your home to replace your old ones.

If you decide against making any contribution, you can withdraw your Storage Heater Grant Application without cost.

There are 3 parts to Free Storage Heaters Qualifying Criteria and you MUST meet all of them to be awarded a Storage Heater Grant.

Firstly, you must live in your own home.

Secondly, you must receive at least one of the following State Benefits, Tax Credits or Other Allowances:

• Guaranteed Pension Credit
• Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit
• Income Support, Income-Related ESA or Income-Based JSA
• DLA or PIP
• Attendance Allowance or Carer’s Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Child Benefit (subject to maximum income thresholds)
• War Pensions Mobility Supplement
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces independence Payment

Thirdly, you must have at least one broken electric night storage heater installed in your home when your ECO Accredited Surveyor visits you.

As part of its policy to combat climate change, the government introduced the ECO Scheme as its flagship household energy efficiency initiative.

The ECO Scheme has two aims: reducing carbon emissions from UK domestic housing stock and cutting heating bills for low income households.

To help achieve this, ECO grants are offered to replace old, inefficient heating systems and install new ones, and also to install insulation.

To qualify for a storage heater grant or even free storage heaters, there must be someone receiving one of the qualifying benefits who lives permanently at the property.

Will it cost me anything?

The initial survey is free of charge and there are no administration fees to the free storage heaters scheme.

However, if your storage heater grant is not high enough to pay for the installation of new storage heaters you may be asked to make a contribution.

You will not know this until after the free survey and you can withdraw your application without charge.

The ECO Scheme (Energy Companies Obligation) was set up by the UK Government in 2013 to help cut heating bills for low income households and to reduce carbon emissions.

The ECO Scheme has developed over the years and ECO3 started in October 2018 and will end in March 2022.

The part of the ECO Scheme which provides Free Storage Heaters or Storage Heater Grants is the Home Heating Carbon Reduction Obligation (HHCRO) which is commonly referred to as the Affordable Warmth Scheme. More information about other heating system grants and insulation grants can be found HERE.

Under ECO, the major energy companies are required to add a levy of around £30 per year on every UK household’s electricity bill.

This money is fed into an ECO Fund and through various ECO Funding organisations, is used to pay ECO Accredited installation companies to install free storage heaters or subsidised storage heaters in the homes of qualifying households.