Energy Efficiency

Home Energy Scotland offer free and impartial advice and support to help you make your home warmer, reduce energy bills, and contribute to a greener, more sustainable future. Its primary focus is tackling fuel poverty and the climate emergency, by helping people stay warmer at home for less and reducing their carbon footprint; all critical priorities for the Scottish Government.

Home Energy Scotland can offer you impartial advice as well as detail on grants and interest free loans that may be available to you to support energy efficiency upgrades in your home.

You can contact Home Energy Scotland for free on 0808 808 2282.  For more information, please visit their website https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/.

Area Based Schemes

Area Based Schemes are Local Authority led energy efficiency projects primarily focusing on external wall insulation.  The Energy Agency manages the delivery of Area Based Scheme on behalf of Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Due to statutory obligations, Local Authorities and Housing Associations are currently investing in external wall insulation systems, as well as other measures, to improve the thermal performance of their solid wall and hard-to-treat homes, helping them meet energy efficiency standards for social housing.

To compliment these projects, Scottish Government provides substantial grant funding for property owners in the private sector to enable inclusion in the Local Authority projects.  The funding covers the majority of the cost, however customer contributions may be required.

Priority areas are identified each year in line with Scottish Government guidance.  If your property is selected for inclusion in an Area Based Scheme, our agent will write to you directly with more information.

ECO-4 - Grant through Energy Suppliers

What is ECO-4?

ECO (Energy Company Obligation) is a UK Government policy administered by OfGEM that obliges energy suppliers to provide funding to support energy improvements in homes across the UK.  ECO was first introduced in 2013 and ECO-4 is the fourth iteration of this scheme running from 2022-26.

ECO provides significant annual investment into the energy efficiency sector.  To meet their obligations, the energy suppliers utilise existing supply chains by forming agreements with energy efficiency installers across the UK.

To install measures under ECO, an installer must be registered with Trustmark and install to the UK's most recognised Retrofit Standard, PAS 2035.

The funding is specifically targeted to assist low income households, and householders that are vulnerable to effects of living in a cold home. 

Eligibility is determined by two factors -

• The existing energy efficiency of your home (see does my home qualify)
• Your personal circumstances (see does my household qualify)
   

Does my home qualify?

Funding is calculated on an individual basis.  This is determined by the current energy efficiency of your home and the fuel bill savings a package of energy efficiency measures can achieve.

The energy efficiency of a home is determined by a survey which produces an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the property.  You may already be familiar with EPC's as they are mandatory in Scotland when buying/selling a property.  The EPC rates the energy efficiency of the home on a scale of A-G, with 'A' being the most efficient and 'G' being the least efficient.

For your home to qualify, the current EPC rating of your home must be in band D, E, F or G.

Installers will undertake a survey to determine a package of works for your home and they must be able to achieve an increase in EPC rating of at least two bands.  For example, if the current EPC rating is band E, the package of works must achieve band C.

Does my household qualify?

ECO-4 has two eligibility groups:

1. The Help to Heat Group
2. The Flexible Eligibility Group

Help to Heat Group

The Help to Heat Group includes any household that receives a means tested benefit as set out in the ECO Order.  Please refer to OfGEM's website for up-to-date information. 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/energy-company-obligation-eco/homeowners-and-tenants

Flexible Eligibility Group

The Flexible Eligibility Group is a broader group of consumers that do not quality under the Help to Heat Group but considered to be low income households, or households that are vulnerable to effects of living in a cold home. 

Please refer to our Statement of Intent for details.

How do I access ECO-4 funding?

ECO is an energy supplier/installer led scheme administered by OfGEM.  Installers will enter into commercial agreements with energy suppliers to deliver a quantity of works at a determined rate.

Marketing activity is undertaken by Installers through their own marketing campaigns or via lead generating/advertising companies.  Before entering into a contract with an Installer, you should always undertake your own research and satisfy yourself that the Installer is able to meet your requirements.

If you qualify under the Help to Heat Group, any Installer in the UK that has an agreement with an energy supplier can offer you subsidised or fully funded works.

However, the Flexible Eligibility Group or 'ECO-Flex' is slightly different.

If you qualify under ECO-Flex, it is the Local Authority's responsibility to check that you are eligible based on information provided to us by the Installer.  This means that the Local Authority must issue a signed Declaration to the Installer that allows the energy supplier to authorise the funding. 

Due to the Local Authority's role in this, we have been more selective over the Installers that can operate under ECO-Flex in our region.  We have set up an Approved Installer Scheme and only Installers registered on this scheme can access ECO-Flex funding from their energy supplier.

Please refer to our Approved Installer Scheme for more information.

Approved Installer Scheme

Funding for work done under the ECO-4 Flex is only available if you use Approved Installers to carry out the work.

This list may change from time to time so please take time to check whether a company is on this list before you agree to any projects.

Important

The Local Authority's involvement in ECO-4 is limited to verifying your eligibility for funding.  The scheme is Installer led and the Local Authority does not promote or manage ECO-4. 

The Installers on this list have been granted access to this funding mechanism following an application process that assesses company details, financial records, accreditation, insurance policies, management systems. 

The council is not associated with, nor does it endorse, any installer on the Approved Install Scheme. Consumers should always undertake their own research to satisfy themselves that the installer is able to meet their requirements and expectations before entering into a contract with them. 

If you proceed with an installation under ECO-4 Flex, the Local Authority will be notified and you will be invited to provide feedback on your experience with the Installer.  This allows us to monitor the performance of each Installer and regularly review their membership of the scheme.

Approved Installers

Check your Installer

We have partnered with Ayr based charity, the Energy Agency, to advise us on ECO-4 Flex.

If you have been approached by an installer and are unsure whether the offer is genuine, please contact the Energy Agency:

01292 525535

abs@energyagency.org.uk

Statement of Intent

Publication of this Statement of Intent confirms our agreement (with OfGEM) to participate in the Flexible Eligibility element of ECO-4.

We are required to published, and make available, the current and superseded version of all Statement's of Intent.

• Download Statement of Intent ECO 4 - Version 1 [PDF - 161KB]
• Download Statement of Intent ECO 4 - Version 2 [PDF - 161KB]
• Download Statement of Intent ECO 4 - Version 3 [PDF - 168KB]
• Download Statement of Intent ECO 4 - Version 4 [DOCX - 93KB]