If you’re over 60, government-backed schemes and grants are available to fund a boiler replacement or cover a large part of the cost.
The main initiative you’ll be interested in is the Energy Company Obligation Scheme. Under this programme, pensioners could be eligible for a grant for a new boiler, if they claim pension credit or Working Tax Credits.
If you’re over 60, but haven’t reached state pension age, you could still get financial help to install a new boiler if you’re in receipt of any one of a number of eligible government benefits. Even if you’re not receiving any type of benefits, you may still be able to get funding from the local authority to replace an inefficient boiler.
Free Boilers for Over-60s Under the ECO Scheme
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme is a government-backed scheme administered by Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) and funded by the main energy companies. It’s in its fourth and final phase – the £4 billion funded ECO4 – which is expected to run until March 2026.
Under the initiative, major energy providers commit to providing funding to help a range of households, not just pensioner households, reduce carbon emissions and impact on their heating bills to counter fuel poverty. This is achieved through a broad spectrum of grants for home energy efficiency improvements, including in some cases, free boiler replacement. It is an alternative source of funding to the Green Homes Grant Scheme which closed to new applicants in 2021.
If you’re over 60 and have an old boiler, you may be able to receive government boiler grants to cover all or a substantial part of the cost of installing a brand new boiler. Free boiler funding is not intended to cover boiler repair.
ECO4 Boiler Grants for Pensioners
To qualify for an ECO4 grant under the free boiler scheme you need to have an old inefficient boiler and be receiving an income-related government benefit or be in a low income household.
Receiving the state pension in itself doesn’t make you eligible for funding, as the pension is not an income-based benefit, but instead is triggered automatically once you reach the age of 66, regardless of your income.
However, if you receive pension credit – Pension Savings Credit and/or Pension Guarantee Credit – you are likely to meet the eligibility criteria for financial assistance to have your boiler replaced. You may also be eligible for a boiler grant if you receive Working Tax Credit.
Free Boiler Grants for Over-60s
If you’re over 60 but under state pension age, you could qualify (like any other adult) for funding for a boiler replacement if you claim any of the following government benefits:
- Universal Credit.
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support.
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).
- Working Tax Credit (WTC).
- Warm Home Discount Scheme rebate.
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
ECO Scheme Boiler Grant Eligibility Criteria
Besides receiving means tested benefits or being in a low income bracket, to qualify for funding for free boilers, you also need to meet the following conditions:
- You’re a homeowner or a tenant in privately rented accommodation.
- Your gas boiler is more than eight years old.
- Your boiler is highly inefficient
- Your home has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E, F or G.
ECO4 Boiler Grant Applications for over 60s
You can apply for a free boiler grant if you meet the eligibility for funding under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme. With funding for ECO4 coming from the main energy providers — including Octopus Energy, British Gas, E.On, EDF, OVO, Scottish Power, Shell Energy, Outfox the Market, E (Gas & Electricity) Ltd, So Energy, The Utility Warehouse and Utilita Energy Limited — you could be eligible for funding that could potentially cover the full cost of a new heating system including installation.
Eco Grants can help check eligibility for a free grant on your behalf. A qualified installer will carry out a free survey to establish the best way for you to keep your house warm and reduce your carbon footprint with a new boiler. We provide a hassle free way for you secure a free boiler replacement and assist with the whole government grant application process.
Boiler Replacement for Over-60s Through the Local Authority Flexibility Scheme
Over-60s not getting any benefits may be able to get a free boiler replacement under the Local Authority Flexibility (LA Flex) programme. This allows local councils to expand eligibility of ECO4 beyond just those households receiving government benefits.
Under the scheme, boiler replacement grants are available to homeowners, including over-60s, not getting a means-tested benefit but on a low income or considered in ‘fuel poverty’ and at risk from living in a cold home.
To qualify for LA Flex funding, your current boiler has to be a non-condensing model and your annual household income must be less than £31,000. Your home must also have an EPC rating of G, F or E or no Energy Performance Certificate at all.
You may also be eligible for an LA Flex boiler grant if you have a serious health problem likely to be made worse by living in a cold home.
Benefits of a Boiler Replacement
There are plenty of benefits from accessing funding under what is in many cases effectively a free boiler replacement scheme. Having an energy efficient boiler installed will help energy inefficient and low income households improve the rate at which they consume fossil fuels and therefore help them save money.
Gas boilers power heating and hot water in most UK homes. Older boilers are generally more inefficient boilers and cost more to run. Some waste up to 40% of the fuel (in most cases gas) they use, which is many cases can add more than £300 to annual energy bills.
Then there’s the added cost of boiler servicing, maintenance and repairs need to keep an old boiler operational. These will be necessary to ensure your boiler is running as efficiently as possible. This may increase the lifespan of your boiler but won’t make it as efficient as a newer boiler.
The alternative is to replace your outdated boiler with a modern condensing boiler A+ rated for energy efficiency. This could save up to 30% on energy bills – around £600 in some cases.
New boilers can also play a key role in helping to tackle fuel poverty by providing households with energy efficient heating systems that will bring bill savings year after year.
Another route is to pursue funding from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, but this is aimed at households replacing boilers with energy efficient heat pumps. These can be expensive to install, and with grants of up to £7,500 available, households could be expected to find significant investment themselves to cover the remainder of the cost. This could put it outside the affordability of many over 60s in fixed incomes.
Fuel Poverty and Older Households
High energy prices hit low-income households hard, especially those in energy inefficient homes, which end up using more gas and electricity to heat their homes.
The homes of older people are generally considered more likely to lack sufficient energy efficiency measures, and with an estimated 2.1 million pensioners in the UK considered to be living in poverty, this represents a major area of concern.
Medical conditions increase with age, and campaigners working to combat fuel poverty say people with insufficient money to heat their home properly are more vulnerable to physical and mental health problems.
According to National Energy Action (NEA), around 10,000 people die each year as a result of living in a cold home. The fuel poverty charity says cold homes trigger or aggravate serious health issues such as bronchitis, heart attack, stroke, and asthma. Fuel poverty is also a known risk factor for suicide.
Age UK, which champions the rights of older people, reported that 60% of over-60s on low incomes were cutting back on heating or powering their homes because they feared being unable to pay energy bills.
Free boiler replacements can be an important factor in countering fuel poverty among the over-60s by reducing energy use and bills. You can use this free eligibility check to find out whether you qualify for funding to have a boiler installed for free or at subsidised cost.