Applied to Warmfront for a grant for new central heating system, in Spring 2010. They came out in September 2010, and decided I was eligible, as I’m in receipt of higher rate DLA, and my current heating system is cr"p. Three weeks ago they came out to do a technical survey, and today we received a letter saying that we can have the system, but we will have to contribute £2,900, as the system will cost more than their allowance.
Needless to say I cannot afford this as I am no longer in employment, and we are just about managing on my husbands salary as it is. It’s so annoying that we have had to wait 17 months for this information.
Hi Lemongrove
This is shocking! It is hard to concieve why you would need to wait this length of time to be told this information. Surely a heating system could be put in for this, never mind you having to contribute this amount. I don’t know much about what other agencies are about to support this, but I would ask benefits advice dept. who may be able to advise. Take care. J.
The way warmfront work is they have just a few authorised suppliers,so little conpetition and they can charge at extortionate rates.Check to see which authorised fitters are in your area, as you may be able to get another quote.
As with all government grants they do not always give value for money.You could get an independant quote and then you would at least have some idea of what the new system should cost, and if there is a big difference then maybe you could go back to warmfront and ask them why you have to contribute so much.
Linda xx
They said WHAT?? I’m presuming you haven’t got an 8 bed mansion then?
3 years ago we had to replace our boiler. We replaced it with a completely new Condensing boiler system (A rated efficiency) and to replace just that was £1500 and took them about 2 hours to connect it up and flush it all through and test it worked. This also included a new thermostat.
We’ve saved loads on our heating bills since, it’s extremely economical in comparison to our inherited boiler. I reckon it costs about half as much to run, they cost the most but they are the most efficient.
So I really don’t see how they can say it costs that much! Are you having loads of radiators put in with it or anything?
By the way - anyone in the support group of ESA is entitled to help from warmfront so it’s worth asking if theres any work they can do on your house!
I called them to see if they could do anything about windows as ours need replacing and are very draughty, they don’t cover windows unfortunately.
They do cover cavity wall insulation and loft insultation.
As our house is 1890s built in stone (Yorkshire!) we don’t have a cavity in our wall as they weren’t built that way, and we don’t have a loft we have an attic bedroom.
I wanted to see if they would pay for false internal skim walls to be created to create a gap to put insulation in at the front of the house, or towards us creating an inner ceiling in the attic to then insulate, as this is the only way we can insulate these types of houses but it’s very costly to do. Of course that kind of “out of the box” thinking is beyond them. So the kind of houses that REALLY Need help as they are very very cold by nature, can’t have it.
Thank God we put in a coal and woodburning stove 2 years ago, it makes the living room and kitchen toasty warm 
But the rest of the house is expensive to heat as it all just escapes due to no insulation! It has to be on constantly in winter.
I pointed out to Warmfront that if we were given the materials to do the work on creating the internal walls and ceiling and insulation then we could do this work for well under £2900 no problem, because we wouldn’t need to pay some firms exoribitant fees to install it, my other half is capable of installing it as he is a joiner.
Then they could inspect the work to make sure the material has been used as intended etc.
If we ourselves got a quote to have this work done by a private firm then it’d be very expensive because it’s very labour intensive.
But of course they won’t supply materials either or give you vouchers to purchase the materials or something.
I think these government schemes are badly run, theres no flexibility and the prices charged are OUTRAGEOUS and a waste of taxpayer money. Private firms are quoting silly money that no private person would pay.
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Hi El Katrano, have you enquired with your local Council about whether they offer home improvement grants? Apparently some Councils will pay for work to bring older properties up to modern standards, so it’s worth enquiring. Our local Council used to offer these grants, but with all the cut backs they have stopped - although they do offer disabled people grants to help with modifications (e.g, wheel chair ramp).
Hi Lucinda, the central heating system that would be replaced is oil. To be honest, I think the contractors are taking advantage, and just bumping up the cost. The surveyor who came out said the oil tank would need to be replaced and re-sited because the law has changed and the current tank doesn’t comply with J5 regulations, and is too close to the house (also J5 regulations). However, I looked up the J5 regulations, and although our current tank does not comply and is too close to the house, there is plenty of room in the area to site a new tank there, without going to all the expense of running new pipework and laying concrete for a new tank. Basically though, when I rasied this with Warmfront, they told me to take it up with the contractor, and needless to say, when I spoke to them, they said they are not prepared to discuss the quote with me (as it’s between them and Warmfront), and that they will now tell Warmfront that I have declined their offer, and have asked for another quote (at that point the women answering the call simply put the phone down - there was no argument or anything).
Looks like we’ll be stoking the woodburner again this winter!.