In order to benefit from ECO your property will need to require energy efficiency upgrades. The specific measures that would benefit your home would be determined by a retrofit assessment. You must own your own home or have permission from your landlord, including if the property is owned by a social housing provider or management company.

You can contact any of the obligated energy suppliers (external link) to find out how they may be able to help you benefit from the ECO scheme, even if they are not your energy provider.

ECO Flex is run by private companies (installers) and the funding for the improvements are awarded by the energy suppliers.

It is important to note that eligibility for ECO doesn’t necessarily mean that an energy supplier or installer will decide to install energy efficiency measures in your home.

Your chosen installer(s) will carry out a survey and identify a package of improvements suitable for your property.

If eligible, you could qualify for any of the improvements listed below. This is not the full list and other improvements might be available depending on the installer.

• Loft insulation
• Pitched roof insulation
• Flat roof insulation
• Room in roof insulation
• Cavity wall insulation
• External wall insulation
• Internal wall insulation
• Floor insulation (solid or suspended floors)
• Air source heat pumps
• Ground source heat pumps
• Gas boilers
• Electric boilers
• Biomass boilers
• Heating controls
• Electric storage heaters
• Solar PV panels
• High performance external doors
• Window glazing
• Draught proofing

Low-income households who are in fuel poverty qualify for ECO. If you receive benefits and live in a property with a low energy efficiency rating, then you can apply directly through an energy supplier.

Funding is only available for private owner occupiers and private rented contract holders.

A full list of approved contractors has been published on the Wrexham page of the Wrexham page of the Warm Wales website (external link).

It is your responsibility to check if you need planning permission or building regulations approval. Certain types of insulation such as external wall insulation might need planning permission and building regulations approval and as a homeowner/landlord it will be your responsibility to apply for this.

The installer working on behalf of the energy supplier will decide what level of support and type of improvements you could receive.

A signed declaration of eligibility does not guarantee the installation of any improvements, as the final decision considers the suitability of the improvement for your house and if the improvement will increase your homes levels of energy efficiency or not.

Initial complaints about an installation should firstly be made to the company who installed the measure, but if problems continue you should contact Citizens Advice Consumer Services (external link) for free impartial advice.

The government has made it a requirement that the large energy suppliers provide the funding to pay for the energy efficiency improvements to your homes.

The funds are passed directly to private installer who must be a PAS2030/TrustMark accredited company to be able to install energy efficiency measures in your home.

Ofgem administers the scheme on behalf of the Government Department for Energy, Business & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).  

Ofgem’s duties include allocating targets to obligated suppliers, monitoring supplier progress and deciding whether they’ve achieved their obligations, reporting to the Secretary of State, auditing, ensuring compliance and preventing and detecting fraud.

BEIS sets the overall policy for the ECO scheme.