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FAQs

If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our solar PV, heating or insulation pages, check out our frequently asked questions below.

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, feel free to call us on 0333 003 0703 or drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to help.

Solar

Buying a solar system

What will my home's solar energy system cost?

Going solar is an investment in a brighter tomorrow. It’s cleaner, greener and more affordable way to source your energy, become less reliant on the Grid and even make money by trading your surplus energy. Your solar solution will be bespoke to your home. It could cost from £4,995 for solar PV panels alone and from £8,495 for solar PV compete with the Social Energy smart battery (based on a typical 3-bed house); the exact price depends on your roof size, how many solar panels you need and whether you wish to add a smart battery to store/sell your energy.

Simply book your free home survey with one of our solar energy experts. We can also discuss finance options on the day (subject to status).

Using a Solar System

Sunlight is free – so once you’ve paid for the solar panel installation, you save money on your energy bills – and can even sell your surplus energy and battery capacity to the Grid.

By generating and using your own solar energy – instead of power from the National Grid – you can make significant savings on your electricity bills. The Energy Saving Trust calculator estimates that a typical 4kWp solar panel system can knock between £500-£700 off your annual bill with the Smart Export Guarantee SEG depending on where you live.

Using battery storage alongside your solar panels can further increase your savings – because a battery will store the surplus energy that you produce, so you can use it when the sun goes down instead of drawing it from the Grid.

*Example of annual savings based in Manchester with SEG (Sept 2020): https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/renewable-energy/electricity/solar-panels

You could cut 100 tonnes of carbon.

Imagine you’re on a return flight from London to New York. You’ve just generated 986kg CO2 – per passenger, not the whole plane. Think about how much carbon the aircraft you’re in is emitting into the atmosphere. Now times that by 100. That’s how much carbon you can cut by simply using solar energy over a 30-year period.

100 tonnes of carbon wiped clean off your carbon footprint and out of our planet’s atmosphere. Surprised? That’s the power of solar.

  • The average UK household produces 8.1 tonnes of CO2 a year
  • 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from households
  • Half of your home’s carbon footprint is made of the energy you use

It’s a beautiful, sunny day. Your solar panels are soaking up all that daylight enabling you to power your home. But then, the sun goes down – no more solar energy is being generated, but you still need to power your lights in the evening. What happens then?

Well, if you didn’t have a battery, you’d then switch to using power from the National Grid – costing you money. But with a battery installed in your home, you can use all the extra solar energy captured during the day that you didn’t use.

So you can keep the energy you’ve generated and use it exactly when you need it most – instead of it going to waste.

 

We supply a number of different batteries. They come with a 10-year warranty – their lifespan far exceeds that of standard batteries you use on gadgets at home.

Solar thermal for your home

Prices start from £7,495 inclusive of VAT.

Solar hot water panels will work for most homes in the UK. The facing, pitch angle and size of your roof area will determine which solar thermal system is the best for your home, it will also contribute to how much energy you’ll capture.

Based on the results of a field trial conducted by The Energy Savings Trust across a range of household and system sizes, these are the typical savings from a well-insulated and properly used system. Savings will vary from user to user.

Annual Savings

  • Gas £60
  • Oil £65
  • Coal £70
  • Electricity £70
  • LPG £100

Annual CO2 savings (kg/year)

  • Gas 295kg
  • Oil 410kg
  • Coal 660kg
  • Electricity 205kg
  • LPG 340kg

You may be eligible to receive payments for the heat you generate from a solar water heating system through the UK Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

  • 2 person household £215 – based on a 2m2 system
  • 3 person household £295 – based on a 3m2 system
  • 4 person household £375 – based on a 4m2 system
  • 5 person household £450 – based on a 6m2 system
  • 6 person household £525 – based on a 6m2 system

You don’t need planning permission for most domestic solar thermal systems in the UK, as long as they aren’t too big. But exceptions apply for listed buildings, buildings in conservation areas and World Heritage Sites. If this applies to you, contact your council to see whether you need to apply for planning permission for your solar panels. Read more in our in-depth guide.

For optimum performance solar panels should be positioned South facing, however, not all roof orientations may allow this. In general, any position between South East & South West is suitable and will only reduce the optimum by up to 5%.

Solar thermal panels can also be mounted on an East & West elevation; this type of system will absorb energy both in the morning and in the afternoon as the axis of the sun or diffuse light moves from East to West.

The ideal pitch angle is between 30-40° which is the standard pitch of most roofs in the UK.

Solar PV is based on the photovoltaic effect, by which a photon (the basic unit of light) impacting a surface made of a special material generates the release of an electron.

Solar thermal, on the other hand, uses sunlight to heat a fluid (depending on the particular application, it can be water or other fluid).

Heating & Boilers

Buying a boiler

We can supply and fit a wide range of combi, conventional and system boilers. Prices start from £2,350, spread over monthly payments if you choose finance (subject to status). We can give you a fixed price on a boiler that best suits your home when you get a free quote, and an idea of what your payments could be. It’s also worth a 2 minute check to see if you qualify for ECO funding before you purchase.

You could be eligible for a free or heavily subsidised boiler through the ECO Scheme. You can find more information here.

This will depend on how complex your heating system is, but your engineer will give you a good idea before the work begins. You don’t have to be at home the whole time, but we’ll ask you to be there at the start and end of the work. This will enable our heating engineer to confirm all the details of the installation before we start and show you how to get the best out of your heating system when it’s finished.

We offer a range of heating controls, thermostats and programmers – which we can install along with your boiler. These include smart ways to control your heating system by app (even while you’re away from home), such as “ask Alexa” to turn your heating on with a simple voice command. You can find more information here or get in touch.

Combi boilers work by taking water directly from the mains and heating it producing a continuous supply of water. This makes new combi boilers more energy efficient, as they don’t store hot water in a separate tank.

System boilers work by pumping hot water from the boiler through the heating system to the hot water cylinder and radiators around your home by removing the need for a feed and expansion cistern. A hot water storage tank will always be required with a system boiler, as it needs somewhere to store the water it has heated.

A conventional boiler works by igniting fuel to heat the water stored in the hot water cylinder, which is fed by the cold water storage cistern. The boiler then passes water to the central heating through a feed and expansion tank.

Boiler repairs & servicing

Our team of highly trained advisers and engineers have the skills and experience required to quickly and accurately diagnose the problem with your boiler enabling the engineer who arrives at your home to have all the knowledge and parts they require to get your boiler back up and running.

Getting your boiler serviced regularly will ensure it runs efficiently and safely. It’s also a requirement of your boiler warranty. A great time to book a service is towards the end of summer, as your heating system could have been idle for some time. Then you know your boiler is ready for the big central heating switch on in October. Remember, a faulty boiler can be dangerous – and they’re not cheap to replace. We can help with that too with easy ways to pay.

A boiler service takes around 1 hour and typically involves:

  • Visual inspection
  • Operation and control checks
  • Flue and combustion release checks
  • Clean the main boiler components
  • Flame, pressure and ventilation tests, including safety checks
  • A check that your boiler and central heating are working properly

The industry standard cost is £90, which covers the service and labour. If you require extra parts or a repair, an engineer should advise you of this during the service.

If you have booked a boiler repair – for an emergency or breakdown – the industry standard callout charged is £100, which includes the first hour of work. Labour is usually charged at £50 for every hour thereafter. Parts and material costs vary. Your engineer will let you know what the problem is and advise of the cost to fix it during the callout.

Please Note we’re currently not offering boiler repairs & servicing

Boiler help & advice

Our team of highly trained advisers and engineers have the skills and experience required to quickly and accurately diagnose the problem with your boiler enabling the engineer who arrives at your home to have all the knowledge and parts they require to get your boiler back up and running.

Getting your boiler serviced regularly will ensure it runs efficiently and safely. It’s also a requirement of your boiler warranty. A great time to book a service is towards the end of summer, as your heating system could have been idle for some time. Then you know your boiler is ready for the big central heating switch on in October. Remember, a faulty boiler can be dangerous – and they’re not cheap to replace. We can help with that too with easy ways to pay.

A boiler service takes around 1 hour and typically involves:

  • Visual inspection
  • Operation and control checks
  • Flue and combustion release checks
  • Clean the main boiler components
  • Flame, pressure and ventilation tests, including safety checks
  • A check that your boiler and central heating are working properly

The industry standard cost is £90, which covers the service and labour. If you require extra parts or a repair, an engineer should advise you of this during the service.

If you have booked a boiler repair – for an emergency or breakdown – the industry standard callout charged is £100, which includes the first hour of work. Labour is usually charged at £50 for every hour thereafter. Parts and material costs vary. Your engineer will let you know what the problem is and advise of the cost to fix it during the callout.

Please Note we’re currently not offering boiler repairs & servicing

We don’t need you to be there when the work is being carried out, but we ask that you make yourself available for at least one hour at the start and end of the work. This will enable our heating engineer to confirm all the details of the installation before we start and show you the benefits of your heating system when it is finished.

This will depend on how complex your heating system is, but we will give you an estimate before the work begins.

Your gas, electricity and cold water supply can normally be isolated in the areas where we are working, so you should be able to use these utilities for most of the time.

 

Upgrading to a condensing boiler can offer the following benefits:

  • Cheaper heating bills
  • A more energy efficient home
  • Better for the environment
  • Increased reliability and performance
  • Easier control of your heating

First central heating systems

This will vary as it depends on the size of home and your flooring. Once we have surveyed your property, we can advise how long it will take.

If you are a homeowner or a private renter (with permission from the landlord) who receives qualifying benefits, you could be entitled to a first time central heating grant through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), an initiative that aims to help lower the carbon footprint of homes and heating bills in the UK. Under the scheme, grants are available to help people pay for energy efficiency improvements, such as central heating systems, if your home hasn’t had one before – along with upgrades like home insulation. Visit this page to find out more.

If you live in a Housing Association home, grants are only available on properties with Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E, F or G. If you live in a rented property, grants are only available to rented properties with an EPC rating of A, B, C, D or E – along with the landlord’s permission, which is always required to complete the first time central heating and insulation grant application process. Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we are here to help.

Air source heat pumps

Every home is different. We’ll need to ask you a few questions to see whether an air source system is suitable for your home, before arranging a free survey.

The market-leading heat pumps we use are air-to-water systems. They do not need an existing heating system as we will be able to provide a full heating system if one isn’t present. ASHPs do run at a lower temperature and due to this most existing radiators will need replacing to create enough heat for each room. This will be discussed at point of sale and calculated after a technical survey.

Air source heat pumps work well with traditional as well as underfloor heating. During your survey and at installation, we will design a bespoke heating system for your home to meet all of your home and family’s heating needs.

If we believe the system isn’t suitable for your property or won’t suit your usage requirements – we’ll let you know and the reasons for this. This service is completely free of charge and with no obligation.

It only takes a few days to install an ASHP and it causes much less disruption when compared to ground source heat pumps, for example. This is because there are no buried underground coils, so they can be easily integrated into existing properties.

You’ll be advised how long it takes during your free survey – if you want to spread the cost, ask us about finance on air source heat pumps.

In some instances, a heat pump will work with microbore pipework but our engineers do not recommend it, as many manufactures do not support it. If you do have microbore pipe in your home this will be identified at the survey stage, our recommendation would be to replace it. For a standard 3 bed semi, we charge £1,000 to re-pipe the heating system.

If your property is listed building or you live in a conservation area, this doesn’t necessarily stop you from having an air source heat pump installed. You will need to ask your local authority planning department prior to any work taking place. Through permitted development rights, more and more people are being granted planning permission.

The majority of the heat pumps we install have attained the Noise Abatement Society’s ‘Quietmark’. The noise levels on some have been described as the same decibel level as a library!

As part of the UK government’s commitment to cutting carbon emissions, the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) encourages more people to replace costly heating systems – such as oil, LPG and electric – with a cleaner, greener, efficient and cheaper to run system. The incentive is quarterly cash payments over 7 years – worth up to £13,000.

Our expert will design your system during your free home survey. This gives you the cost of the air source heat pump system and your RHI estimation. It is calculated with the SCOP (Seasonal Coefficience Of Performance) and the kWh needed to heat your home and hot water, multiplied by the current tariff to generate how much you’ll receive each year. Once your air source heat pump is installed, we inform MCS and Ofgem and a ‘Date of Application’ email is produced within 7 days. At this point, your tariff is set (it can go up if the tariff rises but will not come down if it decreases).

You’ll receive your first quarterly payments around 3 months later. Other incentives are also available; you can claim an additional £1,610.

As with all heating systems, the more efficient your home, the cheaper it will be to keep it warm. So whether you have a gas, oil or LPG boiler, changing to an air source heat pump should save you money to heat your home. Our experienced team will also design your bespoke heating system to make sure the system runs to its maximum efficiency whilst still providing you with the heat you need.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is available to all homeowners wishing to install air source heat pumps, providing you live in the property for the majority of the year. You can find out more about RHI here.

All homes are different and not all walls can be insulated. If your property is built from solid stone or brick – or if you have cavities that can’t be filled – you can have a new air source heat pump installed and still claim the RHI. However, If you have a cavity wall that can be filled with insulation this will need to be completed before you are able to claim the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive). Don’t worry though, we can help you with insulation too.

Due to climate change, most of us are more concerned about the way we use energy. Many of us are looking for ways to lower our carbon emissions and a big part of that is rethinking about how we heat our homes.

Heat pumps are widely recommended as a more environmentally friendly heating system to the traditional gas boiler, but there are pros and cons to consider before making the change. If you are looking to install a new heating system but wondering which is the best choice for your home, book a free home survey to find out whether you’d be better off with an air source heat pump.

Air source and ground source heating systems do similar jobs; they warm the home by extracting naturally occurring heat from outside your property. Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) do this using air, while ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) get heat from underground. Both are renewable energy sources and have minimal impact on our environment compared to fossil fuel heating systems, such as oil and gas.

While the basis of the two heat pumps is the same, the cost of having them installed is not. A ground source heat pump on the other hand can cost between 50-100% more than an ASHP.

Air source heat pumps cost between £10,000 and £16,000 depending upon size of your property. This price also includes radiators with thermostatic regulating valves and, if required, an unvented hot water cylinder plus smart controls.

Running costs are similar to a gas boiler, however, the air source heat hump will keep your home warm 24 hours a day compared to the running cost of a gas boiler heating the home for 6 hours. Compared to oil and LPG you can expect to save over 30% and compared to electric heating an ASHP can be as little as 25% of the existing running costs.

Home insulation

Many older properties have less insulation than modern houses built today, but even adding insulation to a newer home can pay for itself within a few years, such as topping up loft insulation or underfloor insulation.

Effective Home only uses BBA approved, DBS checked, direct employed installers. In addition, we only use BBA certified bead or Mineral Fibre cavity products. Find out more about BBA here.

The ECO scheme provides grants for loft, cavity wall and underfloor insulation to help reduce carbon emissions and keep heating bills down.

How it works

1 Effective Home carry out a check to see if you are eligible for ECO funding
2 We arrange a free home survey to ensure your property meets the criteria
3 An installation date for your home insulation, when it suits you

If you are eligible for ECO funding or other grants, your home insulation could be heavily discounted, maybe even free. Get in touch on 0333 003 0703 and we can help, or check if you qualify here.

Loft insulation

If your loft is easy to access and has no damp or condensation problems, we should be able to insulate it.

If access is easy and your loft joists are regular, we will install rolls of mineral wool insulation. The first layer is laid between the joists – the horizontal beams that make up the floor of the loft – then another layer is laid at right angles to cover the joists and make the insulation up to the required depth.

Any tanks and pipes that are in the loft would be insulated as part of the install to prevent them from potentially freezing in the future. Also, as part of the installation process, we need to ensure your loft is adequately ventilated. In some cases we might need to add some roof or tile vents and in others where the loft space is already adequately ventilated we would not need to make any adjustments.

If we can’t get into your loft to insulate it with rolls of mineral wool, ‘blown insulation’ may be an option. This requires specialist equipment to blow appropriate insulation material into any awkward space. They may use mineral wool fibre, treated cellulose or polyurethane foam.

The cost of loft insulation for a typical 3-bed house starts is around £350. Your price depends on any insulation you already have and your home’s specific installation requirements. You could also be entitled to free loft insulation through the ECO Scheme – we can help you with this, as well as getting you a quote.

Cavity wall insulation

If your house was built in the last 20 years or so, the walls are probably already insulated. If you’re not sure whether a) your walls have cavities, or b) if you have cavity wall insulation already, we can help.

If your house was built after the 1920s, it is likely to have cavity walls. A cavity wall is made up of two walls with a gap in between, known as the cavity; the outer leaf is usually made of brick, and the inner layer of brick or concrete block.

Pre-1920 older houses are more likely to have solid walls. A solid wall has no cavity; each wall is a single solid wall, usually made of brick or stone.

Most cavity walls can be insulated by injecting insulation material into the cavity from the outside. Your installer will drill small 22mm drill holes at intervals in your outer walls, inject insulation through the holes using specialist equipment, and then seal them with cement. The insulation materials are usually either mineral wool or polystyrene beads, but polyurethane foam may sometimes be used instead.

Once all the insulation is in, we’ll fill the holes in the brickwork so you’ll barely notice them.

Filling cavity walls is not a job you can do yourself, you will need to employ a registered installer. Effective Home can do the job in around two hours for an average house with easily accessible walls. It shouldn’t make any mess.

The cost of cavity wall insulation depends on the size of your property and the walls to be insulated. As a general rule of thumb, installation prices for a typical 3-bed house start at £680 – solid wall costs may be higher, whereas bungalows tend to cost less due to their height. You could also be entitled to free cavity wall insulation through the ECO Scheme – we can help you with this, as well as getting you a quote.

Underfloor insulation

Timber floors are on average only 19mm thick and air leakage creates a heat sink under the home drawing the heat out from below.

When adding extra insulation to your floors, the work must comply with the relevant building regulations for where you live. Effective Home can arrange this for you.

If you live in England or Wales, the floor should achieve a U-value of 0.25 W/m2K or less, if possible. The U-value is a measure of how quickly heat will travel through the floor. To achieve this standard, you will normally need at least 70mm of high-performance foam insulation, or 150mm of mineral wool, but this will vary depending on floor type, shape and size.

If you are replacing at least half of a floor then you have to insulate to these standards whether you planned to or not.

The cost of underfloor insulation, depends on the size of the floor space and the cost of the materials, including any that you will need to fill the gaps between the floor and the skirting boards. For a typical 3-bed house, expect to pay around £795.

Grants

ECO Scheme funding

The ECO Scheme is a Government initiative – often called the ‘replacement boiler scheme’ or ‘ECO boiler scheme’ – designed to help low income households save money on their heating bills. One way it does this is by providing gas boiler grants to replace faulty and inefficient boilers with more energy efficient ones.

They vary by your situation, property type and what the grant is for. For example, an ECO boiler grant could entitle you to a free A-rated gas boiler or you may be asked to pay a contribution. First time central heating grants that are 100% funded could save up to £4,500 on a new, efficient central heating system if you’ve never had one in your home.

Loft insulation, cavity wall and underfloor insulation grants also vary house by house. Firstly, check if you qualify – it only takes 2 minutes – and if you’re not sure, get in touch. We know ECO funding inside out and will do our best to help you get the money you need.

  • Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • Attendance Allowance
  • Carer’s Allowance
  • Child Benefit*
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Constant Attendance Allowance
  • Disability Living Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit (Guarantee)
  • Employment and support allowance (income-related)
  • Jobseeker’s allowance (Income-based)
  • Income Support
  • Industrial injuries disablement benefit
  • Mobility supplement
  • Personal independence payment
  • Severe disablement allowance
  • Universal credit
  • War Pension Mobility Supplement
  • Working tax credit

If you receive one of these qualifying benefits (excluding Child Benefit) you will be eligible regardless of household income, so no means-testing is required for applications.

If Child Benefit is the only qualifying benefit you receive, you will also need to ensure your annual household income does not exceed the amount set out in the table below, corresponding to the type of claim and the number of qualifying children.

 Number of children or qualifying young persons for which the person is responsible
Type of claim1234 or more
Single claim< £18,500< £23,000< £27,500< £32,000
Member of a couple< £25,500< £30,000< £34,500< £39,000

We know that upgrading your home to save energy and lower your carbon footprint is a big investment. Depending on your circumstances and home, we may be able to help get a new boiler, central heating or home insulation installed for free or part-funded through the ECO Scheme.

If you qualify for ECO funding because you are on a low income or benefits, we can help make the whole process easier. We’ve been helping homeowners and landlords for over 10 years through:

  • Money towards a new energy efficient ‘A’ rated boiler
  • Lower everyday energy usage and bills
  • Cosier and more comfortable homes
  • Work carried out by qualified, professional installers
  • Expertise in ECO Scheme funding

About us

Whether you are looking to upgrade your home or lower your carbon footprint, we can help. From making your first steps to sustainable living to the big leap to renewables, our teams are highly qualified with the expertise to making your journey effortless from day one. We’re a small company with a big heart – covering a huge area of the country – so you get a personal service with ‘bulk buy’ value. For peace of mind, our accreditations speak for themselves.

We are proud to be certified and approved by industry leading assessors, registration bodies and consumer watchdogs, including NICEIC, OFTEC, and Gas Safe. You can see them all here.

Knowing we’re quality assured with these accreditations is reassuring for our customers. It gives you peace of mind that you’ve made the right choice in Effective Home. Every product and service we sell comes with its own guarantee – some up to 25 years – and an aftersales support service that is second to none.

Effective Home offers a choice of ways to pay for any upgrades to your home, including finance. Not everyone has the money set aside to pay for investments in renewable energy or ways to make their home more efficient. You’ll find details on our boiler, heating, home insulation and solar product pages – along with any relevant funding that may be available to reduce your costs, such as ECO Scheme or the Government’s Green Homes Grants.

You can see the areas we cover for heating, home insulation and solar energy solution here.

Our main HQ is in South Yorkshire – Unit 3, Crompton Business Park, Crompton Road, Doncaster DN2 4PA. We also have teams of engineers and installers based throughout the country from Newcastle down to Worcestershire.

You can see our latest vacancies here. If you feel you have the experience and energy required to drive Effective Home’s business forward, please email your CV to David Wright.

Rest assured, Effective Home is following current Government guidelines and updating our working procedures to comply with current Covid-19 recommendations and as they change. All of our team – including surveyors, engineers and installers – are mindful of the 2m distance rule, carry hand sanitiser and are equipped with the correct safety gear for home visits.

When you book a survey, repair or appointment we’ll ask you if:

  • You or anyone in your home has been diagnosed with Coronavirus (Covid-19)
  • You or anyone in your home has been advised to self-isolate
  • Anyone in your home is at higher risk – either through existing health conditions or over 70 years old

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, we’ll work with you to assess your need for a home visit agreeing next steps with you.

We’ll prioritise emergencies and we may need to postpone non-urgent visits, like annual services, to a later date.

Before your home visit
On the day of your appointment, we will also call you and ask the same set of questions – this is important just in case anything has changed since you booked.

When anyone from Effective Home visits your home

  • Hand washing will take place before, during and after their visit
  • You won’t be asked to sign anything

Our engineers will be social distancing, so please keep a 2m radius of their work area at all times. Any Covid-19 questions? Call us on 0333 003 0703

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