The Warm Home Discount has been expanded this year to include more people on certain means-tested benefits, the consumer body Which? reported on 29 January 20261. The scheme is described as the main government-run support for energy bills and pays £150 to those who are eligible1.
Which? said most eligible households should get the payment automatically, but that the benefit recipient needs to be named on the energy bill and the energy provider must be part of the scheme1. It also stated there is no Warm Home Discount in Northern Ireland1. The article did not set out which means-tested benefits are newly included, how many additional households are covered, or the qualifying criteria, and no further detail on the expansion has been reported1.
Which? set out other winter payments alongside the discount1:
| Payment | Amount | Notes given |
|---|---|---|
| Warm Home Discount | £150 | No equivalent in Northern Ireland |
| Cold Weather Payment | £25 per seven-day qualifying period | Paid where the average temperature is 0ºC for seven days in a row |
| Winter Fuel Payment | £100 to £300, tax-free | For those born before 22 September 1959; not available in Scotland |
On the Winter Fuel Payment, Which? said that this year, if income is over £35,000, HMRC will take the payment back through the tax code or tax return1. It also pointed to energy company hardship funds, which some suppliers run privately and which households can apply to, with eligibility decided by the provider1.
The article also covered running costs for heating a home. Which? said most of the electric heaters it has tested cost around 48p per hour to run, and that electric blankets and throws typically cost between 2p and 8p an hour on their highest setting1. It said that using an electric blanket for three hours a night, every night, for half the year would cost about £11 in total for the cheapest-to-run options, against £43 for the most expensive1. On boiler settings, Which? said households with condensing combi boilers can lower the central heating flow temperature to somewhere between 60-65ºC, starting at 65ºC and working down gradually, and that this should not be done with a regular or system boiler that has a water storage tank1.
Why it matters for households
The Warm Home Discount is a fixed £150 payment for eligible households, so where a home qualifies it reduces the cost of energy directly rather than through a change in how the home is heated1. Because most payments are described as automatic, the practical condition is administrative: the named account holder must be the person receiving the qualifying benefit, and the supplier must be in the scheme1. Households in Northern Ireland are outside it1.
The wider picture in the article is that support is split across several schemes with different triggers. Cold Weather Payment depends on sustained cold, Winter Fuel Payment on age, and the Warm Home Discount on means-tested benefits1. That means a home's energy independence this winter rests partly on which of these it falls into, and partly on the running costs of the appliances it uses. Which? puts electric blankets and throws at 2p to 8p an hour against around 48p an hour for most tested electric heaters, a difference that matters where a single room is being heated rather than the whole house1.
What happens next
Which? did not give a closing date for the expanded Warm Home Discount, nor a timetable for payments, and no further dates have been reported1. The article directs readers to its own guide for eligibility detail1.