Unlock the Benefits of the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme.

More people are conscious of their energy consumption and are investing in energy efficient upgrades to their home. This includes smaller upgrades such as smart light bulbs and larger renovations like installing triple glazed windows. You might be considering modernising your home by upgrading your heating system.

For information on grants available in England or Wales, please visit homeenergyscotland.org

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme is a government-funded initiative designed to help homeowners improve the energy efficiency of their homes by upgrading their traditional fossil fuel boiler to a heat pump.

Home Energy Scotland (HES) was set up in 2017 by the Scottish Government in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust. It offers people free advice on heating tips such as making your home warmer, energy efficiency and how you can reduce your energy bills. They also offer support to people who are looking to upgrade their homes heating with renewable energy, like a heat pump or hybrid system and how you can make travel more sustainably like electric cars and bikes.

To help more people across Scotland achieve a warmer, energy efficient home, Home Energy Scotland introduced financial support through either a grant, an interest free loan or a combination of both to help people meet their energy efficiency goals.

The funding available helps with those cost of installing a low carbon heating solution like a heat pump and energy efficiency measures such as cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation and window upgrades.

There are three main types of heat pump systems:

• Air source heat pumps are suitable for a range of properties and work by using the external temperature to extract heat.
• Ground source heat pumps use a system embedded into the ground to extract heat. For this reason, your home does need the necessary land to allow for the installation of either a ground array or a borehole system.
• Water source heat pumps provide the most reliable source of hot water and heating in homes, thanks to the consistent water temperatures outside.

If you're if a heat pump is suitable for your home, read our guide to help understand your options.

Depending on how you want to make your home more energy efficient, there are two different types of loans available through the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme:

• Clean heating systems - for heat pump installations, you can access grant funding of up to £7,500, along with an optional interest-free loan of an additional £7,500. This includes air source, ground source, water source and hybrid heat pumps and is the same amount for each energy source.
• Energy efficiency measures - for insulation, grant funding is available up to 75% of the combined cost of measures up to a maximum grant amount of £7,500. The remainder of funding requested can be taken up as optional interest-free loan up to the maximum funding limit per improvement.
• Rural uplifts - If you live in a rural area or one of the Scottish Islands, you can benefit from a £1,500 uplift to both the clean heating and energy efficiency grants. Heat pumps are a great option for many homes that are considered ‘off grid’ and are not connected to a mains gas supply. To see if you’re eligible for the uplift, visit the Scottish Government’s Urban Rural Classification for further information.

Please note, funding is available on a first-come, first serve basis and is subject to availability. Funding agreements are valid for up to nine months. Read their full terms and conditions for more information.