Homeowners looking to upgrade their heating could save a total of £7,000 on the cost of fitting a heat pump to replace an old gas boiler, said Halifax.

The lender is offering £1,000 cashback in addtion to the £6,000 grant available through the Government Boiler Upgrade Scheme from 1st April.

It said that, with the cost of heating our homes set to rise, many homeowners will be looking at ways to reduce their energy use.

Save money

Halifax estimates that improving your home’s Energy Performance Certificate rating could save over £300 on bills each year for each band it moves up – helping offset the cost of the work needed.

For many, the immediate action will be addressing the areas where heat is lost. Draft prevention, double or triple glazing, and loft or wall insulation can all help reduce the amount of energy it takes to keep a home warm.

For those that have already addressed their homes’ insulation, how it is heated will be one of the next things they can look at changing. Across the country, most homes rely on mains gas for their heating, with fewer than 1% choosing a heat pump.

Barriers to improvements

The cost of a heat pump is higher than that of a replacement gas boiler and some may see this as a financial barrier.

However, the combination of the two schemes could reduce the cost by as much as £7,000, making a heat pump much closer to the cost of a gas boiler and without the same monthly fuel costs.

Andrew Asaam, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “The cost of heating our homes has risen dramatically this year, and people will be looking at how they can reduce that both quickly and over the long term. Simple changes like extra loft insulation and draft exclusion can make a difference for relatively little outlay.

“For those who have already insulated their home well, need to make more significant improvements, are at the point where they need to update windows or a boiler, or just want to lower their carbon footprint, the investment can be more significant.

“With our Green Living Rewards cashback offer, we hope to support these homeowners with some of the bigger energy efficiency improvements they might want to make, like better insulation, solar panels, or a heat pump.”