Help with grant for gas central heating

shaz2xl

We live in a Housing Association property. It is a town house (3 floors) and the heating is via economy 7 storage heaters - the worst system known to man for oh so many reasons! . There are no 'boost' buttons so, if its colder than predicted - too bad! The ground floor has no heaters at all yet we have 3 outside walls and it was below freezing all winter long. I have asked my H.A if they would install different heating - ie; gas but they say they will not pay.
The question is: Does anyone know of any grants/help that I might apply for? The common concensus is that the heating we have counts as 'central heating' already so I can't find anyone willing to help us swap to a more energy efficient (and therefore cheaper) heating solution. My husband & I are unemployed and on JSA & I, personally, need to declare bancruptcy so do not have any money at all.

HappyMJ

You are not going to get gas central heating installed on a property you do not own. E7 heating is 100% efficient already and if sized correctly and used correctly on the right tariff then the costs are not that much more than gas central heating for the same heat output. I have electric heating and the bill last winter was less than it was when I was using gas central heating. The room temperature never got below freezing. It was set at 18 degrees in the room that I was in and I never heated unused rooms.

You should always set the input to maximum and the output should always be set to minimum except when you are physically in the room.

You should also get a convector heater for each room for a quick boost whenever you arrive home or enter the room and it is cold. It should only take 10-15 minutes or so to reach a reasonable temperature.

Prinzessilein

I live in an HA property. And I too have 3 outside walls.

I was told when I moved in that the heating/hot water was on Economy 7 and that there was no option to change it.

To be honest - I wouldn't want to! I find that I always have plenty of hot water and my home is toasty warm most days - I do have a boost button in the main room, not on the others - but have only used it about twice. My bills are always reasonable (let's face it - we'd all like it cheaper!)

You do need to understand the system and make sure that each heater is set at the most efficient. Make sure the boiler is well-lagged.

And remember there is some help with your bills if you or a family member have extra needs and meet certain criteria.

Richie-from-the-Boro

You can have the 'boost' you want by switching your tariff type from E7 to E10, it is of course even more expensive. It is as HappyMJ has stated not your property and therefore out of your area of control.

Anubis_2

HappyMJ wrote: »

You are not going to get gas central heating installed on a property you do not own. E7 heating is 100% efficient already and if sized correctly and used correctly on the right tariff then the costs are not that much more than gas central heating for the same heat output. I have electric heating and the bill last winter was less than it was when I was using gas central heating. The room temperature never got below freezing. It was set at 18 degrees in the room that I was in and I never heated unused rooms.

You should always set the input to maximum and the output should always be set to minimum except when you are physically in the room.

You should also get a convector heater for each room for a quick boost whenever you arrive home or enter the room and it is cold. It should only take 10-15 minutes or so to reach a reasonable temperature.

Not entirely true. The warmfront scheme does install such systems if required. I think disability comes in the equation somewhere with the scheme though. We don't own this house but warmfront installed here (however still no heating upstairs bar one bedroom.)

Lube

I dont think you can get a grant if the heating isn't suitable for your needs it might be best to ask HA if you can have a different property

shegar

Lube wrote: »

I dont think you can get a grant if the heating isn't suitable for your needs it might be best to ask HA if you can have a different property

I agree with the above post too.........We use to have storage heaters and I detest the dam things, spent 18 yrs with them so know how they work and they are also definately not for me........We had a warm front grant and they put in a new gas boiler and insulated the home,ive got a disabled husband so thats why we had the work done , so I dont know if the grant is available to someone when they are on JSA, best to look into it, or move to a GCH property if possible...........

Richie-from-the-Boro

Social housing either LA or HA is let at low rents and on a secure basis to people in housing need. Both the LA & HA are this context not-for-profit organisations. There is nothing wrong with the O/P's heating, they just want a different kind of central heating - if someone else pays for it.

The HA in question may have as many as 4500 social housing units in their housing stock and although maintenance is ongoing 52 week cycle, refurbs such as new heating systems / new kitchen - bathrooms / new double glazing etc are done en-block by estate every 10 or so years.

No HA is going to allow itself to single out and discriminate in favour of one single household to the detriment of the others, the rest of the 2500 would be up in arms and properly so. The O/P has not stated they are disabled or in need of any discretionary help, they simply expressed a preference for gas instead of night-store. They knew the type of heating when they signed the lease, perhaps if they feel that strongly they should ask for a move elsewhere to a property with their preferred gas heating.

If the dwelling is that cold then they should negotiate with the HA for more insulation and bigger [more storage] heating units. Most HA's will help with this as the cost to the association is negligible and therefore more likely to happen.

HA's along with LA's will allow Warm Front or whoever to install to a particular property if the householder concerned fits the criteria for both the installer and the Housing Association.

Tally-Ho_2

In England Warm Front will not install in a property if it is owned by a Social Housing Provider. They will only install in either a privately owned house or a privately rented house (with the private landlords permission). It is for the Social Housing Provider to install (and thus pay for) heating systems in their own properties.

This is confirmed here:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Energyandwatersaving/Energygrants/DG_10018661

The scheme is now targeted at people on certain income-related benefits and living in properties that are poorly insulated and/or do not have a working central heating system. You must own your home or rent it from a private landlord.


However the Warm Front Scheme apart, through the advice agency I work with we have had some success in either approaching the Social Landlords directly, usually armed with a lot of evidence such as recorded temperatures in the bedrooms of the properties over an extended period of winter and summer times (to demonstrate that an already installed heating system does not subscribe to modern standards despite insulation being fitted) or also arranging independent surveys of Social Rented houses although this is mainly where cold and moist air has lead to moderate to large scale dampness occurring and taking the issues raised forwards with the social landlords from there.

Sadly it maybe a case of either awaiting for the Housing Association to upgrade the heating system as part of their ongoing maintenance strategy, or with the Landlords permission (which must be sought in advance), paying privately for the work to be done.

In anycase if a property is already wired for storage heating, most social landlords would only upgrade the storage heating as opposed to installing a completely new system powered by another energy type.

To the OP I would seriously check that you firstly have an electric meter that provides for cheap off-peak either Economy 7 or Economy 10, and that you are on the cheapest possible tariff available form either your current or another supplier.

Tally