Grants for heaters / boilers - too good to be true?

[toffeebutterpopcorn]

An elderly relative is getting emails (I think she may have signed up) regarding getting grants to replace her current heaters (which are getting old and unreliable).

It sounds too good to be true... Has anyone any experience? I have had a quick online check of the company and they seem too new and shiny to have much of an online presence, although I have seen reviews for something that sounds similar, and it sounds very shady indeed...

She has asked me to check them out. Has anyone come across this (yes it does sound too good to be true to me).

The Government are trying to encourage us to be eco. website here

There was a similar thing a few years ago for windows. Like all Govt schemes there was paperwork. By the time the companies added to the price to cover the admin and then knocked back off the Govt discount you ended up where you had begun!
As ever, get several quotes.

I saw the green deal thing - no use to us as we needed to do more than one thing (we are in a block) so there’s no way we could access the offer.

I just wonder when I see offers like this - nothing for nothing and all that!

Yes, I also believe in "no such thing as a free lunch" but if you are too suspicious / cynical then you risk missing out on the very occasional good deal!

basically, yes. These 'green deals' are so loaded with backhanders that they are unworkable, which is why very few take them up.

simple solution would be to offer £xxx to be used on insulation or other non-power-consuming measures, refundable in full when receipt produced. Farting about with expensive and impractical for most electric heating is not the answer.

BTW what heaters does she have? All electric heaters have the same efficiency.

We got a subsidised boiler via the eco scheme. You have to own your home and be in receipt of certain benefits. We moved into a property with a 20 year old boiler which was not that efficient. A guy came to do an assessment and then we were able to choose a new boiler. They offered two basic ones but we chose to upgrade. It wasn't free, the basic ones were about £500 and our upgraded one cost £1k including fitting. It was done within a couple of weeks and is perfectly legitimate.

Found it! Yes - she has economy 7 and a couple are being a bit unreliable. I suppose it’s worth a look.

can you find out the terms of the "deal" and are they on a gov.uk site, or on the vendor's or their agent?

A common "special offer" trick is to mark up the price of a £100 item to £150, and then have a "special offer" £25 reduction.

This is often advertised as a Scrappage allowance or something like that.

The Big 6 are still obliged to ro work under the ECO scheme, could it be this? Its now on ECO 3. Usually people on benefits without central heating are targeted via the council, perfectly legit. Check with your council to see what schemes are operating in your area.