Free home energy upgrades could save Peterborough households thousands of pounds

Residents in Peterborough are being encouraged to apply for an energy efficiency scheme which could reward them with considerable savings.

The Warmer Homes initiative - which offers free upgrades to make homes more energy efficient - applies to any home in the city without gas central heating and is worth up to £38,000 per household.

Peterborough City Council’s housing programmes manager Sharon Malia described the scheme as “an excellent opportunity for Peterborough residents.”

"I would encourage all homeowners who have solid fuel heating, electric storage or panel heaters or oil boilers to visit the Warmer Homes website to check if they are eligible for this funding."

The scheme is funded via the Home Upgrade Grant which aims to help lower income households which do not have gas central heating.

The funding was secured when Peterborough City Council, along with a group of 22 other local authorities, made a successful bid for £41.4 million in funding from the government.

The scheme essentially works by installing energy improvements in qualifying applicants’ homes without charge. For example, through this funding, residents would pay nothing to have solar panels fitted, something which can deliver savings of over £500 per year. While solar panels typically cost £6,000 to install, the Warmer Homes scheme will install them for free.

Other energy efficiency upgrades, such as solid wall insulation and air source heat pumps will be available in the same way - all for free.

John Moores from Warmer Homes said: “We’ve already helped many households keep warm and healthy whilst reducing their energy bills and improving the energy efficiency of their home.”

"In the last year alone, the Warmer Homes programme has installed fully funded heat pumps, solar panels and insulation that will deliver £10m in lifetime bill savings, an average annual saving of £251 per household and has abated over 50,000 tonnes of CO2.”

This scheme is available now and will be open until 2025. However, it will run on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, so residents are encouraged to apply sooner rather than later.

Interested parties can find out more by visiting www.warmerhomes.org.uk/apply or calling the freephone number on 0800 038 5757.