The BUS provides grants to customers to help reduce upfront costs while the ECO4 scheme aims to support low income and vulnerable households.
ScottishPower recently announced its participation in a first-of-its-kind ‘Warm Home Prescription’ trial where local NHS authorities can identify low-income households where people live with health conditions that are sensitive to a cold or damp indoor environment and would benefit from warmer, healthier homes.
Working alongside the Energy Systems Catapult, the trial will see the installation of improved energy efficiency measures, such as upgraded or new home insulation and air source heat pumps, as part of ongoing efforts to support vulnerable customers living in homes with low Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings.
“Installing heat pumps alongside energy efficiency and insulation measures, helps not only to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions but can have a real positive impact on people’s energy bills and well-being too” said
Andrew Ward, Chief Executive of ScottishPower’s customer business. “There are over 23 million gas boilers in the UK, so the country has a mammoth task ahead of it. We are working hard to reach as many customers as possible, targeting those who need it most, and ensuring they can benefit from the well-established benefits of heat pump technology. Electrification is unstoppable and there are really attractive Government support packages in place. If anything, we need to quicken the pace and increase those support levels as soon as possible to help more and more households decarbonise.”
Electric heat pumps are increasingly recognised as crucial for the decarbonisation of heat. They use technology like that found in a refrigerator, but in reverse, extracting heat from a source, then amplifying and transferring the heat to where it is needed, making them one of the most eco-friendly ways of heating our homes.
ScottishPower recently moved to double its heat pump installation capacity with the appointment of a second heat pump installation provider, Plug Me In, focusing on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme as demand for low carbon heating grows.
Government figures show demand for heat pumps is rising after the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero increased the heat pump grant available to households by 50 percent. New figures show applications to the government's heat pump grant rose by 75 percent in February compared to the same month in 2023.
Ofgem’s figures show a 93 percent increase in applications to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme since April 2023, with the average applications between November 2023 and April being made at 2,136 a month.
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