Home and business grants, schemes and advice

Local and central Government grants, schemes and advice are available to reduce the cost and environmental impact of home and business energy consumption.

Everybody can benefit - businesses, homeowners, residential landlords, private and social housing tenants and those on low incomes. The main emphasis is to reduce energy wastage by improving the fabric of your home or business premises.

Many households will see the cost of gas and electricity rise by more than 50% from April 2022 as the energy price cap – the limit on what energy suppliers can charge – increases. 

This shift will see many feeling the pinch, but there are changes you can make to try and keep energy costs under control. Energy-saving improvements could make your home more efficient, keeping a lid on rising energy prices, while reducing the carbon footprint. Some households across may be eligible for a government grant to fund energy-efficiency works.
 

Energy Supplier Grants

If you are interested in free loft or cavity wall insulation it's also strongly recommended that you contact your energy supplier to see if they are able to offer free or subsidised insulation. Sometimes this is dependent on postcode or the receipt of particular benefits.

 

Boiler Upgrade Scheme

The government is providing grants to encourage property owners to install low carbon heating systems such as heat pumps, through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). These grants can help property owners overcome the upfront cost of low carbon heating technologies.


The scheme is open to domestic and small non-domestic properties and runs from 2022 to 2025.
For further information, please visit the Boiler Upgrade Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Cold Weather Payments

Cold Weather Payments of £25 for each 7-day period of very cold weather (average of zero degrees Celsius or below) are available between 1 November and 31 March if you’re receiving certain benefits. Payment is automatic for those eligible. If you’re not signed up and think this could apply to you, it’s worthwhile checking. Full eligibility and application details are available on our Cold Weather Payments page.

 

Winter Fuel Payments

If you are aged 60 or over, you may get a Winter Fuel Payment to help pay for the cost of keeping warm in winter. This can be between £100 and £300 depending on your age and situation. Full eligibility and application details are available on our Winter Fuel Payments page.

 

Please note that East Herts Council is not currently promoting any discount schemes or "free" boiler installations directly with third party suppliers. The only grants and schemes we are endorsing are those listed above.

The Hertfordshire Energy Advice Tool (HEAT)

Of all the apps on your phone, how many of them could help you reduce your carbon footprint and save up to £70 on energy bills in just a few minutes? The Hertfordshire Energy Advice Tool (HEAT) App, allows East Herts to be one of the first Local Authorities in the UK to have partnered with Energy Saving Trust to launch an energy efficiency app, and we’d love you to try it. It’s free to download from Google Play and Apple store.

Home energy consumption accounts for 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions. On heating alone, the average home* produces 2,745kg or 1800 m3 of carbon dioxide per year. That means that, across East Hertfordshire alone, our homes pump a volume equivalent to ninety-four Wembley stadiums of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

Heating also accounts for half of our energy bills. Here’s how we can all save money on heating and general electricity bills and really contribute to reducing our carbon footprint.

*Average home = 3 bed semi

Energy saving tips

Our favourite low cost, big return energy saving tips:

  • Reduce home heating thermostat by 1 ˚ - Reducing the thermostat by 1 ˚ could save up to 25% of heating bills and associated carbon. Room temperatures of 21 ˚ and 18 ˚ in living and bedrooms are considered optimum for health and wellbeing. *
  • Switch energy supplier(s) to a green alternative – Switching energy suppliers has always been a great way to save money. Green energy has also significantly reduced in price and could save up to 1.5 tonnes of carbon per household. For further information please visit our Fuel Tariff Switching page.
  • Turn appliances off - Standby accounts for 8% of household energy consumption on average. Across the UK that wastes 2 power stations of electricity per year and produces 4 million tonnes of excess carbon.
  • Choose LED bulbs - These last 12,000hrs plus and use little energy. Typically a 8 watt LED provides similar light levels to old style 60 watt light bulb. They reduce household energy costs by £100 p/a on average and have a 75% lower carbon footprint. Automatic light dimmers save 15% on top. Turning lights off when not in use remains the best solution.
  • Think ‘energy’ when bathing – Installing an energy efficient shower head uses up to 40% less hot water * A shower instead of a bath saves 20% on water, power and carbon. Turning the hot water thermometer down a little can also have a big impact. Free shower and general water saving kits are available from Affinity Water website and Thames Water website.
  • Zone and time your home heat - Bedrooms and living areas require temperature changes at different times of the day and night. Turning off radiators when not required reduces waste. Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) rank 6th favourite for the BEIS and are eligible under the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme secondary measures. 
  • Eliminate drafts and wasted heat - Install a cheap, easy-to-fix brush or PVC seal on exterior doors and keep letterboxes and keyholes covered. Fill floorboard gaps and skirting boards with newspaper, beading or sealant. Fit thermal curtains to windows and doors.
  • Insulate hot water tank – A jacket for your tank costs as little as £15, takes minutes to install and can save £20 on heating and 150kg of carbon year on year. 
  • Insulate lofts and cavity walls – Up to a third of home heat is lost through our walls and roof. Our Home Insulation Guide provides some useful details on how to go about warming up your home. 

*Taken from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) study into how much energy could be saved by making small changes to everyday behaviours.

This 5 minute video from the Energy Savings Trust provides more tips on how to reduce home energy consumption that could save hundreds of pounds per year.

Low Carbon Workspaces 

Low Carbon Workspaces is a match-funded grant for SMEs towards the cost of carbon reduction projects. Eligible projects include LED lighting, new boilers, renewable energy and waste reduction initiatives for which £1,000 - £5,000 (up to one third towards the total cost) is available. The application must result in quantifiable reductions which the Low Carbon Workspaces team can help calculate. Please contact this email address info@lowcarbonworkspaces.co.uk for further information.

Workplace Charging Scheme

The Workplace Charging Scheme provides up to £14,000 in vouchers towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charge points at your business premises. Thresholds include 1-5, 6-15, 16-25 and 25+ employees.

Eastern New Energy 

The East New Energy Hub offers grants of £1000 to £4000 to Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) in the South East of England. The project is offering capital grants to help qualifying businesses improve energy efficiency and/or reduce carbon emissions. Support is available from the summer of 2020 until mid 2022 (subject to grant availability). The intervention rate will be up to 25%. The exact value of the grant awarded will be based on the cost (£) per tonne of carbon saved.

Top Ten Business energy reductions tips

The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) works with East Herts and other Hertfordshire Local Authorities to deliver the clean growth strategy - building a greener, more sustainable Hertfordshire economy and way forward for clean economic growth.

Visit the Herts Innovation Quarter website for their top ten tips on how businesses can reduce their energy consumption.

Business Climate Hub

The Business Climate Hub is a Government endorsed tool kit to help you understand your business emissions, how to tackle them, and how to share what you’re doing with your customers and community. You are then supported by ongoing ideas and incentives to help you meet your commitment of 50% emission reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

Energy advice for tenants

If you rent from a private landlord, you may think there’s not much you can do to your home to save energy. Although you cannot apply for vouchers, it may be possible to get some of the improvements you want even though you don’t own the building. There are some things that a landlord has to do when they rent out a property. To check what energy efficiency or low carbon heating improvements may be best suited for your home you can use the questionnaire on the Simple Energy Advice website and build an energy efficiency plan to send to your landlord.

Financial help for home heating

Heating accounts for half of your energy bills. If you are on a low income or receiving certain benefits, financial support may be available. Find out if you’re eligible via the Warm Homes Discount, Cold Weather Payment or Winter Fuel Payment on the gov.uk website.