ECO4 Measures Table version 2.0 published

Ofgem published version 2.0 of the ECO4 measures table on 9 August 2023¹. The table sets out the energy efficiency measures that suppliers can install to meet their obligations under the Energy Company Obligation, and version 2.0 recorded the changes made by the first ECO4 legislative amendments¹. The same document states that the requirements table, which covers pre-installation insulation and minimum requirements, must be used in conjunction with the measures table¹.

The central change concerns electric heating. Under the first ECO4 legislative amendments on 14 August 2023, electric storage heaters and Electric Heating Systems are classed as renewable heating systems when installed in a home which has solar PV or receives solar PV as part of the same project². The measures table puts it in similar terms, adding that hydronic heat pumps are classed as renewable heating systems whether or not alongside solar PV¹. The table also states that ESH and electric heating systems can be installed in homes which already have ESH, an electric heating system, or which have neither an efficient nor inefficient heating system, including homes using only plug-in room heaters or wall-mounted electric heaters, and that for off-gas homes this is the last option in the off-gas heating hierarchy¹.

Eligibility under the table is set by tenure and SAP band. For local authority flexible eligibility projects, the property must be a private domestic premises with a pre-project SAP band of D, E, F or G for owner-occupied homes, or E, F or G for privately rented homes; under route 2, regardless of private tenure, only SAP band E, F or G are eligible¹. Projects in privately rented E to G premises must include at least one of solid wall insulation, renewable heating, first time central heating or a district heating connection¹.

Source: ECO4 measures table version 2.0¹. Solar PV eligibility depends on the property being heated by a hydronic heat pump, ESH or EHS with a SAP responsiveness of 0.8 or above, or one of those heating measures being installed as part of the same project¹. Social band D premises may only receive innovation measures and, where an innovation measure is a heating measure, any insulation needed to meet the minimum insulation requirement¹.

Why it matters for households

The reclassification matters because it changes what can be installed alongside electric heating. A household with solar PV, or having solar PV fitted in the same project, can have electric storage heaters or an electric heating system treated as renewable heating under ECO4². That affects which measures are available and how a project is put together, and it applies to measures installed from 14 August 2023². The table also confirms that solar PV itself is eligible only where the home is heated by a hydronic heat pump, ESH or EHS with a SAP responsiveness of 0.8 or above, or where one of those heating measures is installed in the same project¹. For homes off the gas grid, electric storage heaters sit at the bottom of the heating hierarchy¹. The ECO4 scheme guide sets out how the obligation works, and the grants and schemes hub covers the wider landscape.

What happens next

The measures table version 2.0 was published on 9 August 2023, ahead of the amendments applying to measures installed from 14 August 2023². Ofgem states that it may add further columns to the table when new information becomes available, and that it is the responsibility of each person using the table to read the Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022 and subsequent amendments to understand how those provisions apply to them¹.

Sources3 cited

1. [](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/ECO4%20Measures%20Table.xlsx), ofgem.gov.uk
2. ECO4 Delivery Guidance & Measures Table Summary of Updates, ofgem.gov.uk
3. ECO4 Delivery Guidance & Measures Table Summary of Updates, ofgem.gov.uk