Do Free Boiler Grants Cover Repairs? What You Need to Know

The free boiler grants cover the boiler repairs. However, all the boiler grants don’t cover the boiler repairs. Some of them only provide free boilers and others provide new boilers along with repairing the existing ones. At the same time, some grants provide only a specific amount of funding. If the installation process exceeds the amount of funding, the households need to pay for the extra expenses.

In the following blog post, there is a comprehensive discussion about the:

• Free Boiler Grants
• Eligibility Criteria for the Free Boiler Grants
• Process to Get the Free Boiler Grants

Let’s start the discussion! What are the Free Boiler Grants? The free boiler grants are schemes from the UK government or energy companies. These schemes aim to provide free boilers to low-income households. They provide energy-efficient boilers that consume less fuel to reduce energy bills. They want to remove the fuel poverty from the country. At the same time, they aim to reduce the carbon emissions from the country to almost zero.

Some of the most popular schemes for the free boiler grants are the following: Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is the fourth phase of this scheme. The UK government and energy suppliers collaborated to establish this scheme. The current phase started in 2022 and will continue until 2026. This scheme aims to make the homes of low-income households completely energy efficient. In this way, they can achieve several objectives, such as the following:

• First of all, the energy efficiency of homes will reduce the fuel consumption. The reduced fuel consumption will result in low energy bills. In this way, they can eliminate the fuel poverty in the country.
• Secondly, they want to achieve the collective goal of zero carbon in the country. They can do so by installing carbon-free or low-carbon heating systems.
• Thirdly, they want to maintain a comfortable temperature inside low-income households. That’s why they are providing energy-efficient and durable heating systems.

The ECO4 fulfil these objectives by providing different heating systems, such as the following:

• First Time Central Heating Systems
• Boiler upgrades include condensing boilers, systems boilers, regular boilers, and combination boilers.
• Insulation upgrades
• Heat Pumps, such as the Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, and biomass boilers.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is another UK government scheme for energy efficiency improvements. This scheme provides funding specifically for boiler upgrades. The boilers provided by the BUS are not only energy-efficient but also low-carbon. In this way, they will reduce energy bills and carbon dioxide emissions at the same time.

The heating systems for which they provide the funding are the following:

• The BUS provides £7,500 to install the Air Source Heat Pumps.
• They provide the £7,500 for the Ground Source Heat Pump installation.
• This scheme provides £5000 for the Biomass boiler installation.

Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) is a comprehensive scheme for heating systems. They provide several energy efficiency improvements in low-income households. Currently, the HUG is in its second phase which will last up to March 2025. They not only want to improve the energy efficiency of the homes but also increase the property’s value.

Some of the most important home improvements by the Home Upgrade Grant are the following:

• They provide low-carbon heating systems, such as the Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, and Solar Thermal heating systems.
• The insulation improvements, such as the loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation, and other insulation improvements.
• The home improvements, such as the windows double or triple glazing, draught-proofing, and smart heat controls.

What is the Eligibility Criteria for Free Boiler Grants? The eligibility criteria for the free boiler grants include the following factors:

• First of all, the free boiler schemes consider the households who are low-income. They consider the people low-income whose annual income is lower or equal to £31,000.
• At the same time, the free boiler schemes consider it compulsory for the households to be receivers of the government benefits. The eligible government benefits are the following:

1. Universal Credit
2. Low-income benefit
3. Child tax credit
4. Jobseeker allowance
5. Disability benefit
6. Pension credit

• Moreover, the energy efficiency of the households should be lower than the D. It can be D, E, F, or G.
• If the households are affected by any vulnerabilities, such as diseases, or disabilities, or have young or aged people in homes, they can also get the free boiler grants.

How to Get the Free Boiler Grants? You can get free boiler grants by following the steps given below:

• First of all, you need to select any of the government schemes that provide free boilers. You can consider the financial benefits, types of boilers, and time of installation.
• After selecting the right grant, you need to ensure that you are eligible for the respective scheme. You can use the online eligibility checkers or ask the customer service of the respective scheme.
• Then, complete the initial application process. Then, arrange the home survey for the scheme. The survey team will assess the heating requirements and conditions of the home.
• At the same time, they will guide you in filling out the application form and submitting all the required documents.
• You need to wait for the approval. If they approve the application, they will send an approval letter and discuss the timeline for the installation process.
• The installation team will arrive on time and start the installation process. Moreover, they will test the boilers several times. They will clean the site and hand over all the details about the heating systems.

Conclusion All the free boiler schemes don’t provide the repairing services. They only provide the installation and replacement of the boilers. If any of the homeowners need to repair their boilers, they need to hire the repairing service by themselves.

However, you can reduce the cost of repairing your boiler by doing some extra research. You need to list out the repairing services in your area. Then, compare their costs. In this way, you can select the service which provides the repairing service in the least cost.

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