Save energy this winter by getting your home insulated for FREE!
Great news for UK home owners as British Gas says “nine out of ten will be able to get loft and cavity wall insulation for free” as part of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). No you don’t have to be on benefits, over 60, or have minimal savings to qualify!
Most of the big six energy providers are giving free boilers, plus loft and cavity wall insulation, to some people who get tax credits and have an income of £15,860 or less, or are receiving certain benefits such as pension credit. But British Gas is giving away FREE loft and cavity wall insulation to anyone with a suitable home – you don’t need to meet any benefit criteria – you don’t even have to be a British Gas customer! See British Gas Free Cavity Wall Insulation
That’s right it’s completely free – nothing to pay at all, ever! Unlike the extensively promoted Green Deal, designed to help people make energy efficiency improvements to buildings by allowing them to spread the costs through their lower energy bills over several years, rather than paying 100% in advance of energy savings.
So how can it be free?
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is an energy efficiency programme that was introduced in the UK in early 2013, replacing the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP). ECO places legal obligations on the larger energy suppliers to deliver energy efficiency measures to domestic energy users. It operates alongside the Green Deal and the big energy companies have obligations to spend money to make UK homes more energy efficient, through ECO. If they miss their targets, they face large fines. This is why it is being offered free and why British Gas has changed its criteria for free insulation to include anyone with a suitable home. Homes that are not suitable are those built using timber or steel frame as they already have insulation in the frame. Most new homes built since 2000 will already have cavity wall insulation.