A scheme helping households to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, and save on heating, has been extended for another four years.
Ealing Council will continue to help low-income and vulnerable households benefit from the national energy efficiency programme, called the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), until March 2026.
Since April 2020, the ECO scheme has seen energy efficiency measures installed in 286 homes across the borough – with better insulation at the forefront of these improvements.
The ECO scheme works by the government requiring the larger energy companies to fund installation of these energy efficiency measures in homes that qualify for help.
If you live in the borough, you could be eligible for ECO if you live in a home with lower levels of energy efficiency and have been identified as being a low-income household, or if you have been identified by a GP as having a condition making you medically vulnerable to living in a cold home.
Finding out more
To find out more about ECO, and if you might qualify – and to find out about the other energy efficiency programmes currently available – visit the Healthy Homes Ealing page on the council’s website.
Alternatively, you can call the freephone Healthy Homes Ealing advice line to help answer any energy concerns and to check your eligibility for ongoing schemes on 800 083 2265 (9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).
Providing support
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, the council’s cabinet member for climate action, said: “We are committed to providing support for local people to cut their energy use and ECO is just one of several support programmes available to Ealing residents.
“By making our homes more energy efficient, we can help slash the amount of energy we need to pay for. With lower incomes, higher costs of energy, and ongoing economic difficulties in the UK, reducing the amount of heat that is lost from our homes is the most effective way to insulate ourselves from price hikes.
“Just as importantly, it can also play a big role in us doing our bit to tackle the climate emergency. Gas heating is one of the worst culprits when it comes to harmful carbon emissions. So, the less energy and heating we need to use to keep our homes warm, the better.”
