PEOPLE in poorly insulated homes will pay considerably more towards their energy bill this winter.
It comes as bills have been hiked by £149, or around £12 a month, this winter due to Ofgems latest price cap.
People who have homes with a low EPC rating face paying higher bills this winter.[/caption]
But homes with a poor energy performance rating (EPC) will end up forking out more than those with better readings.
For example, a home with a rating of F will pay £384 more than a house with a rating of C.
That is according to research from the Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit (ECIU), which also said homes with a rating of E will pay £276 more than properties rated C.
EPCs tell you how energy efficient a building is, with A being the most efficient and G being the most inefficient.
The lower your rating the quicker heat produced in your home from gas boilers escapes the building.
Homes with low ratings are also unlikely to have double glazing or insulation.
Even homes with an energy rating of D face paying an extra £149 compared to homes rated a C, the research found.
Jess Ralston, energy analyst at the ECIU, said: “Millions of households are facing higher bills this winter in cold homes that simply leak heat.
“Investment in improving energy efficiency through government schemes has dropped over the past decade and fallen even further in the first six months of this year.”
She added: “At a time of energy bill crisis, this makes very little sense.”
However, hundreds of thousands of households may be able to get discounted help insulating their homes.
Energy Company Obligation
Low-income households may qualify for major discounts on installing boilers or insulating their homes.
The Energy Company Obligation, set up by the Government, lets households on certain benefits apply to have energy-saving measures installed in their homes.
It might mean cavity wall or loft insulation, or maybe even a new boiler fitted, sometimes for free.
To qualify you usually need to be on one of the following benefits
- Pension Guarantee Credit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income Support
- Tax Credits (Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits)
- Universal Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Pension Credit Saving Credit
Households’ needs are assessed on a case-by-case basis, so there’s no guarantee you’ll get help, but it is worth looking into.
Boiler upgrade scheme
Through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, you could get a grant to cover part of the cost of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with a heat pump or biomass boiler.
You can get one grant per property, towards help with the following:
- £7,500 towards an air source heat pump
- £7,500 towards a ground source heat pump (including water source heat pumps and those on shared ground loops)
- £5,000 towards a biomass boiler
To qualify for this scheme you must own the property you are looking to upgrade.
You must find an MCS-certified installer to claim the grant on your behalf.
MCS is the certification scheme for energy-efficiency product installers.
You can find the nearest ones to you by visiting www.mcscertified.com/find-an-installer, but it is worth shopping for a few quotes.
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
The government is pumping £3.8billion over the next decade to help councils improve energy efficacy in homes.
The last round of funding was rolled out in April 2024, but applications for this are now closed.
Under the scheme, council houses were retrofitted with wall and loft insulation, double glazing, heat pumps, and solar panels.
The fund will open again in April 2025 and provide £1.2billion to social homes.
If eligible, those living in social housing will not need to do anything, as their housing provider will contact them.
Other households will need to check what their local authority has on offer, and they may need to apply for help.
Local authorities will deliver the funding in different ways.
Therefore, you will need to check directly with your council.
Great British Insulation scheme
You can get help insulating your home through the Government’s Great British Insulation Scheme.
The scheme is open to households in council tax bands A-E across England, Wales and Scotland.
You also must have an energy performance certificate rating of D or lower.
If you qualify, you could be in line for essential upgrades to your home, including roof, loft or cavity wall insulation – which could cut your annual energy bill by £100s.
Check whether you meet the eligibility criteria by visiting www.gov.uk/apply-great-british-insulation-scheme.
How do I calculate my energy bill?
BELOW we reveal how you can calculate your own energy bill.
To calculate how much you pay for your energy bill, you must find out your unit rate for gas and electricity and the standing charge for each fuel type.
The unit rate will usually be shown on your bill in p/kWh.The standing charge is a daily charge that is paid 365 days of the year – irrespective of whether or not you use any gas or electricity.
You will then need to note down your own annual energy usage from a previous bill.
Once you have these details, you can work out your gas and electricity costs separately.
Multiply your usage in kWh by the unit rate cost in p/kWh for the corresponding fuel type – this will give you your usage costs.
You’ll then need to multiply each standing charge by 365 and add this figure to the totals for your usage – this will then give you your annual costs.
Divide this figure by 12, and you’ll be able to determine how much you should expect to pay each month from April 1.
