The government launched an online service on 29 July 2022 to help homeowners make informed choices on the energy efficiency of their homes, as part of its Help to Heat support1. The announcement came in the same press release that set out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), which will provide energy bill discounts to 29 million households across Great Britain1.
The online service is intended to help reduce consumers' energy consumption and energy costs1. The government said it committed to set up the new energy advice website in the British Energy Security Strategy, enhancing the online service currently available through the Simple Energy Advice service1. The government describes Help to Heat as £12 billion of investment to make homes, particularly for low-income households, warmer and cheaper to heat, already delivering average energy bill savings of around £300 a year1.
Lord Callanan, Energy and Business Minister, said:
The separate EBSS will pay a £400 non-repayable discount to households over six months, administered by energy suppliers, with payments starting from October 20221. Households will see a discount of £66 applied to their energy bills in October and November, rising to £67 each month from December through to March 20231. The scheme applies to consumers in England, Scotland and Wales; the government said it is urgently working to ensure people in Northern Ireland receive the equivalent support as soon as possible1.
| Payment period | Discount |
|---|---|
| October 2022 | £66 |
| November 2022 | £66 |
| December 2022 to March 2023 | £67 each month |
The government said no household should be asked for bank details at any point, and that ministers are urging consumers to stay alert to potential scams1. It also said further funding will be available to provide equivalent support of £400 for the 1% of households who will not be reached through the EBSS, including those without a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier, such as park home residents, with details to be announced in autumn1.
Why it matters for households
The online service is aimed at the decisions a household can take about its own property, rather than at bill support paid through suppliers. For a home's energy independence, the practical value sits in identifying which improvements suit a particular property and how much they might save. The government's own figure for Help to Heat is average energy bill savings of around £300 a year, though it does not break this down by measure or by home type in this announcement1. Households wanting to understand the underlying costs and savings can read our guides to how much insulation saves and how much draught-proofing saves, or see how much could I save improving my home's energy efficiency.
The £400 discount is a one-off reduction in bills over one winter and does not change a home's underlying energy use. Households in Scotland and Wales have separate government-funded advice routes, covered in our pages on Home Energy Scotland and Nest, the Welsh Government home energy scheme. Funding for physical improvements is covered in the grants and schemes hub.
What happens next
The government said it will work with Ofgem and suppliers on guidance ahead of implementation of the EBSS from October 2022, including a full set of reporting requirements for suppliers to be published in due course1. An announcement on how households not reached through the EBSS can access equivalent support will be made in autumn1. The government also said it will consult on prices and protections for domestic consumers whose energy supply arrangements do not enable them to move to a tariff protected by the price cap, such as those paying for energy through all-inclusive rents1.