1 – Are Free Boilers still available?

In short, yes. Free boilers are still available via the UK Governments ECO Scheme in 2014. The scheme has been set up to help those in low-income households have energy efficient improvements installed in to their homes completely free of charge. Your boiler will need to be 8+ years old (not condensing) in order to qualify. In some circumstances, you may need to make a contribution to the installation, but this depends on how technical the job will be/any extras which you may want such as heating controls etc. The majority of the install will be fully funded by the grant.

2 – How long will it take to get my Free Boiler installed?

The timescales vary from company to company, but in general, you should expect to have your new free boiler installed in to your home within around 3-4 weeks from the point that your property is surveyed. You will need to ensure that all paperwork relating to your benefits claim relates to the property you are applying for. If it isn’t, it may delay the free boiler installation time.

3 – Who can apply for a free boiler?

Anyone in a private household. This means, home owners, private tenants and landlords. If you are living in a housing association, you will not be able to apply for a grant as it is their responsibility to maintain the heating system in your home.

4 – I live in a flat, can I apply for a free boiler?

You may well qualify for a free boiler under the ECO scheme, however, if your property is very small, and already well-insulated, you will not get a large amount of funding to go towards the installation of the free boiler. Generally, most companies will not accept applications from those living in flats because the job will not be financially viable.

5 – I don’t have a boiler, can I get a full central heating system for free?

No. Grants are only currently valuable for free boiler replacements/heating controls (where necessary). The cost of installing a full central heating system in to a home would be too much and there is not enough funding to complete such a large scale job for free.

To find out if you qualify for a free replacement boiler, click the link on the right hand side of this page!

Thanks,
The Get Free Boiler Team!

Under the ECO Scheme, in 2014, you could claim a 100% free boiler if you receive the correct type of income related benefits.

Do you receive:-

Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits, Pension Credit, Income Support, ESA, JSA?

Do you:-

Have a child under 16, under 20, receive a disability element, be in a work group or support component?

If you have some of the above, there is a high probability that you could have your old boiler replaced completely free of charge under the Governments free boiler scheme. If you have an old boiler, but its not broken, it’s still advisable that you take advantage of a scheme such as this because of the savings you will make on your energy bills. The free boiler scheme is exactly that, free. You do not re-pay the money back at any time and it is not a loan. It is a free boiler.

Click the button on the right to see if you qualify for a free boiler.

What type of free boiler can I get?

Combi boilers, conventional boilers, condensing  boilers, vented, unvented etc

Why aren’t full heating system grants available?

We’re unsure. It’s more than likely due to the high costs and potential complications involved when installing a full gas central heating system in to a property. The cost of the pipework, labour and other materials would be so high that it would be uneconomical to fund such installs 100% free of charge. If you currently have a gas central heating system, but your boiler is very old an in-efficient, then you should consider applying for a free replacement boiler under the ECO Scheme. Check if you qualify for a free boiler here.

Who qualifies for a free replacement gas boiler?

If you wish to see who qualifies for a free replacement boiler, or to see if you qualify, check out the following image. It is all benefits related and you need receive a certain type in order to get your hands on a free boiler grant.

Will grants be available for full gas central heating systems?

It’s uncertain what is going to happen with the grant system. As with anything which is grant related, there are never any guarantees so it’s best to keep checking on our blog and watch the news. They making changes on a very regular basis, so it may be available soon.

It’s not always just down to the type of benefits which are being received. It is also down to the type of boiler which is present in the property, it needs to be over a certain age (cant be a condensing/A Rated boiler) or it needs to be broken/in-efficient.

What benefits are needed to claim a free boiler?

There are three different groups which will qualify you for a free replacement gas boiler under the UK Governments ECO Scheme. We’ll go over the ones which qualify automatically first.

Pension Credit – Automatically qualifies for a Free Boiler

This is a top-up to your standard state pension. This is not to be confused as a standard Pension. If you receive Pension Credit as one of your benefits, you qualify automatically for a free replacement boiler.

Child Tax Credits (Income less than £15,860) – Qualifies for a Free Boiler

If you receive Child Tax Credits and your household income for last year was less than £15,860, you will also qualify automatically to have your old gas boiler replaced 100% free of charge. Your income needs to be less than £15,860 in order to qualify. ECO was designed to help low-income households to access free replacements boilers and home insulation.

Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) & Income Support.

If you receive one of the above benefits, you tick one of the boxes in order to qualify for a free replacement boiler. However, in this group, you will also need need to meet one of the following qualifying components below;

• Have a Child Under 16
• Have  a child under 30 in full-time education
• Child tax credits including a disability element
• Disabled child premium
• Disability Premium
• Pension Premium

If you receive Income-Related Employment & Support Allowance and receive a Work Related Activity Group or Support Component then you should also technically qualify for a free boiler as long as you have an old boiler which is in-efficient.

Working Tax Credit (Income Less Than £15,860)

If you receive working tax credits and your income is less than £15,860, then yes, you should qualify for a free replacement boiler under the governments ECO Scheme if you also receive one of the below ‘qualifying components’.

• Responsible for a child under the age of 16 who lives at the property
• Responsible for a child aged between 16 and 20 in full time education other than higher education
• Receive a disabled worker element or severe disability element
• Be aged 60 or over

If you fit in to one of the above groups, then you should qualify for a free replacement boiler.

Are you the home owner, private tenant or a landlord?

In order to apply for a boiler grant, you must be the home owner, private tenant or landlord. You can not apply for a free boiler if you are in a council property or housing association.

Is your current boiler broken, old, or in-efficient?

You may fit in to the above, but, to replace a boiler for free, the current one needs to be over 7 years old (not A rated/condensing) or be broken.

For more information on boiler grants: www.boilergrants.org.uk 

The free boiler scheme was introduced by the UK government in 2013 to help those at risk of fuel poverty and in low income households to access 100% funded home improvements for efficient measures including free replacement boilers, cavity wall insulation and loft insulation. To have a new boiler installed by the likes of, let’s say, british gas, you’d be looking to spend upwards of £4000.00. So, for a household which has a very low-income, a free boiler replacement is a huge benefit.

The benefits of a new, free boiler

If you have an old, in-efficient boiler, you are literally throwing money out of the window. If your current boiler is over 10 years old, or ‘G’ rated, your boiler is likely to be around 60% efficient. This means that for every £1 you spend on heating up your boiler, you are wasting around 40p. That is a

huge wastage. A new ‘A’ rated boiler is around 90%+ efficient meaning that for every £1 spent on heating an A rated boiler, you are only wasting somewhere in the region of 10p. Which is a huge saving! Under the governments ECO Scheme, if you qualify, you can have a free boiler installed in your home, which is 100% covered, you do not have to re-pay the money back at any time. So, to re-cap, you could save up to £250 per year by replacing your old gas boiler, under the ECO scheme, you could have an A Rated boiler installed free of charge in 2014. See if you qualify for a free boiler.

Can I Get A Free Boiler?

The boiler replacement scheme started in 2013, since it started, thousands of households have had boilers installed in their homes completely free of charge. If you receive income-related benefits, there is a very high chance that you could qualify for a free replacement boiler. If you are the home owner, private tenant of even the landlord of tenants in your property, you could qualify for a 100% funded free gas boiler to be installed in your home. New boilers are much more efficient, carry warranties and are much more reliable.

Apply for a free boiler online.