Energy companies and boiler manufacturers are being urged to continue with incentives to householders, following the closure of the Government’s scrappage scheme to upgrade old boilers to new more energy efficient ones.
The
Boiler Scrappage Scheme has closed after the Government this week received applications for all 125,000 boiler discount vouchers in England.
The scheme was launched at the beginning of January with funding of £50 million to upgrade
household heating systems and
cut carbon and heating bills, as well as give a boost to the
heating industry.
Declaring the scheme “a great success”, Lord Hunt, Energy and Climate Change Minister, said this week that the scheme had helped “to sustain work for the 130,000 installers and up to 25 UK-based boiler
manufacturers throughout the economic recovery”. It entitled householders to up to £400 off the price of a new, modern A-rated boiler or a
renewable heating system, such as a biomass boiler or a heat pump.
npower has pledged to continue with its scrappage scheme Since January, all of the major energy companies that sell and install boilers have matched the Government's offer, creating a potential saving of £800 off the installation of a new and efficient boiler. npower, meanwhile, has pledged to run its £400 scrappage discount indefinitely.
This week, the Energy Saving Trust – the agency responsible for managing the Boiler Scrappage Scheme on behalf of the Government– urged them to continue with their incentive schemes.
“We hope the industry will continue to offer incentives for households to upgrade their boilers, as there are still many of the worst performing boilers out there,” said Fraser Winterbottom, chief operating officer for the Energy Saving Trust.
When it launched the scheme, the Government claimed the Boiler Scrappage Scheme would help sustain work for 130,000 installers and over 25 UK-based boiler manufacturers and would cut household energy bills by between £200 to £235 a year and save in the region of 140,000 tonnes of CO2 per year – equivalent to taking 45,000 cars off the road.
The scheme was welcomed at the time by the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council, the UK domestic heating and hot water industry membership organisation, which said it would breath new life into the domestic heating industry.
The Government has resisted calls to extend the scheme, however, as it did with the Car Scrappage Scheme.
Recently published figures on the Boiler Scrappage Scheme showed that, as at March 16, 118,785 vouchers had been allocated and 35,390 boilers had been installed.
People who have applied for a Boiler Scrappage Scheme voucher have up to 12 weeks after receiving their voucher to have the work done and claim the £400 off the cost of installation of a new boiler or a renewable heating system.
Related news:Energy efficiency newsGreen sales & marketing newsGreen grants & funding newsRelated links:www.energysavingtrust.org.ukwww.npowermediacentre.com