Funding

Find out about the ECO scheme

What is the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme?

The ECO scheme means that medium and large gas and electricity suppliers including British Gas, EDF Energy, EON, Npower, Ovo, Scottish Power and SSE are obliged to help households with energy efficiency measures as instructed by OFGEM and the government.

Energy efficiency measures available through ECO include loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation and heating replacement and solar panel. They’re all designed to help save people money on their energy bills, keep homes warmer and help reduce carbon emissions.

ECO is the government’s umbrella term for its programme to make houses in the UK more energy efficient. The latest iteration of the scheme is focused solely on targeting energy efficiency measures in lower income and more vulnerable households.

The current scheme, called ECO4, was launched in 2022. It is due to run until 2026.

Who is eligible?

In total, 6.5 million households are eligible. The scheme’s plan is to make energy-saving improvements to 900,000 homes. Each year up to 35,000 homes with broken heating systems will have them replaced and 17,000 homes with solid walls will be treated.

You could be eligible for ECO if you receive at least one of the following benefits:

Child Benefit
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

Suppliers must deliver 15% of their ECO measures to homes in rural areas, and 10% of them can be installing ‘innovative’ products, such as devices to help homeowners manage their energy use.

"Simply amazing service from Smarter-Eco Ltd. They arrived promptly and installed cavity wall insulation in a matter of hours."

Funding process

How does it work?

The funding process all starts with independent retrofit surveyors discussing qualification with the resident. Each local council has different criteria so the best way to check eligibility is to discuss with us directly as it can get complicated.

Once eligibility is confirmed we will determine what measures are available and carry out a survey. Installation of the chosen measures is usually complete within 6 weeks