4 Ways the UK government is helping you to save energy in 2014 | Money Hints

2014 will see the start of a big push from the UK government to begin cutting down on the use of energy by providing homeowners with energy saving funding and incentives. This article explains the main 4 types of funding that will available to people throughout the UK.

Green Deal

From 28th January 2013 onwards anyone will be able to get government finance of up to £10,000 with the Green Deal to support the payment of installing energy saving measures at their home. The UK government set up the Green Deal as a way to help homeowners to make energy saving improvements without any upfront costs. This was to encourage homeowners to go green because often the idea of having to pay a lump sum to have a renewable energy system installed would put people from signing up for improvements. Therefore, instead of taking money out of your savings or applying for loans to install home energy improvements such as insulation and heat pumps, you can apply for a long-term Green Deal finance package that is attached to your home.

Before you are able to qualify for the Green Deal you will have to undergo a property inspection by a certified Green Deal assessor who will give your home a Green Deal assessment – Green Deal Upgrade can arrange a no obligation assessment for your UK home today.

ECO

The Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) was introduced to Britain in 2013 and is an energy efficiency programme which places legal obligations on the larger energy suppliers to provide energy efficiency measures for domestic energy users.

ECO has been set up to run in conjunction with the Green Deal to provide additional support to supporting the domestic sector, particularly those who are within vulnerable consumer groups and live in hard-to-treat homes.

If you live in a hard-to-treat property, if you live in a solid wall property (pre-1930) or have hard-to-treat cavity walls (Pre-1950), then you will be entitled to external or internal solid wall insulation, heating systems and loft insulation 100% funded. This is available to everyone who owns these types of property.

You can also qualify for ECO funding if you receive certain benefits and have low household income. If you meet the specific criteria you could be entitled to free insulation, boiler and other energy saving measures.

Domestic RHI

RHI stands for the Renewable Heating Incentive which was announced by the UK Government last July in 2013. Applications for the domestic RHI will be open in spring 2014 administered by Ofgem.

The RHI is financial support for homes in England, Wales and Scotland only to change their heating systems to a renewable heat solution such as air source heat pumps, biomass systems, ground source heat pumps and solar thermal technologies. If you have installed an eligible renewable heating solution at your home since 15th July 2009 you will still be able to apply for the RHI providing you meet the criteria set by Ofgem.

The finances you will get paid with the RHI will be paid at a set rate per unit of renewable heat produced in kWh, over seven years, to the owner of the property.

To be eligible for the funding your property needs to undergo a Green Deal assessment for RHI from your local Green Deal Assessor before you can apply for the RHI to ensure you meet the minimum energy efficiency requirements for loft and wall insulation.

Feed in tariff

The Feed-In Tariff Scheme (FITs) has been around since April 2012 and was set up by the Government as an incentive for homeowners to install and generate electricity using renewable technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, Micro CHP and Micro-Hydro. If your installed system is eligible for FITs then you will be paid for the electricity you generate on top of the surplus energy that is fed into the National Grid.

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