First Time Central Heating

First Time Central Heating grants in Coventry

Are you a homeowner, with no central heating ever installed, and yourself or someone living in your property receives a qualifying benefit?


You can apply for an ECO4 First Time Central Heating grant to install full central heating to your property!

Do I qualify for First Time Central Heating?

The criteria to qualify for an ECO4 boiler grant are:

  • You are the homeowner
  • Your property has never had any form of central heating installed
  • Yourself or someone in the property is in receipt of a qualifying benefit
  • Your property has an EPC rating of either E, F or G


Your property must also have adequate loft insulation installed as well as wall insulation.


Don't worry if your property currently does not have insulation installed, this can all be arranged as part of your grant application by your installer.

About your home

Your home must either have no heating or one of the forms of heating listed below:

  • Electric room heaters (Including Electric Storage Heaters)
  • Gas room heaters
  • Solid fossil fuel fire with back boiler
  • Electric underfloor or ceiling heating (not part of an electric boiler)
  • Bottled LPG room heating
  • Solid fossil fuel room heaters
  • Wood/biomass room heating
  • Oil room heaters
  • No heating in place


When assessing your eligibility for First Time Central Heating, it will be considered using your current system as the one which appears as the ‘Main Heating System’ on the EPC register.

Qualifying Benefits

In order to be be eligible for a new gas boiler grant, you will need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit. These include:


  • Universal Credit
  • Child Tax Credits
  • Working Tax Credits
  • Pension Credit
  • Income-Related Employment & Support Allowance
  • Income-Related Jobseekers Allowance
  • Income Support

If you don't claim any of the benefits listed above, you could qualify for a grant through your local authority's ECO4 Flex scheme. This funding allows households to apply even if they do not receive any benefits, have an annual income of less than £31,000 per year and have a health condition which can be made worse by living in a cold home, or they are vulnerable to the effects of a cold home.

More information on the ECO scheme can also be found on the official Gov.uk website.

Apply online

Apply online

Installations will be completed by one of our trusted and Approved ECO Installers (Trustmark accredited).

Your local installer will be in contact to discuss survey and installation. Additional contribution may be required.

ECO4 Grant process

Submit your application online

Your local approved ECO4 installer will be in contact to verify eligibility

The big day, arrange the date for your installation

Enjoy your all the benefits of your new and improved home

What is the ECO4 Scheme?

The Energy Company Obligation scheme was set up by the government in collaboration with the major energy providers in the UK (including British Gas, EON, NPower and EDF energy) with the aims of reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency and tackling the growing issue of fuel poverty.

Sourced from the Gov.UK website, the ECO4 scheme means that you may get help with the cost of:



How the ECO4 scheme is to tackling  fuel poverty within the UK.

According to endfuelpoverty.org.uk, there is an estimated 7 million households across the UK in fuel poverty as of October 1st, 2022. With concern that this could rise to an estimated 10.7 million from spring 2023 as the current support measures for households runs out.


The ECO4 scheme is only available for those in receipt of certain benefits or for those households on the lowest income and are therefore the most vulnerable.


By installing new energy efficient heating methods, such as a new boiler or first time central heating into a home can drastically improve its energy efficiency rating and also reduce the cost of energy bills. Pairing these measures with home insulation, including loft insulation and cavity wall insulation can also maximise energy efficiency for properties, further improving energy costs for these households.

ECO4 installers in Coventry

Finding a trusted installer for your ECO4 grant

When choosing an installer to complete your grant installation, it's important you choose a reliable and fully accredited company to complete the work. In order to carry out ECO grant work, a company must be compliant with the specification, as there is certain guidance and rules that all installers must follow.


By applying for your grant through CoventryHeat, we have a network of ECO installers across the Midlands who are fully compliant, meaning you (and your home!) are in safe hands.

Your installer must be TrustMark registered. You can check this and find an installer on the Trustmark website.

Be aware

Several installers are operating and contacting households using a variety of cold calling methods, such as leafleting. Whilst some of these companies may be genuine, the legitimacy of these companies is not something that is verified.


This is why we would recommend to everyone considering an ECO4 grant, to do adequate research and checks. For example, ensuring they are TrustMark registered and that they have legitimate contact details so you can check the status of your application or follow up with them.


As a general note, it is worth being aware of the company you are using and making sure you use common sense if something doesn't feel quite right.

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