Background
Allan & Tina live in a 3 bedroom house which they have owned for over 40 years. The property had old electrical storage heaters, but only 2 of them were working.
Allan suffers from chronic health issues and Tina is now noticing other age-related health issues. They felt their health issues are being made worse because of their cold home.
The couple felt they were paying too much towards their heating costs and were struggling to keep their home warm. They want to have the storage heaters replaced with something more efficient. They were struggling financially and could not afford to replace these themselves.
How we helped
When we visited the couple, we assessed for any grants they would be eligible for to help upgrade their heating system, and while they met most of the criteria, they did not qualify as they didn’t receive any benefits.
We put them in touch with our benefits advisor at our partner Citizen’s Advice & Rights Fife who completed a benefit check and concluded that Allan would be eligible for Attendance Allowance. The advisor later completed a home visit and helped them put in an application.
In the meantime, we provided some much-needed energy efficiency advice to help them retain heat in their property. They were eligible for help from our handy service and we provided them with some energy saving measures to their home.
A few weeks later…
Allan was delighted to hear that his claim for Attendance Allowance was successful. This would also allow them to apply for the grant to upgrade their heating.
We visited again and made a referral to Home Energy Scotland to apply for the Warmer Home Scotland Scheme. Allan appeared to meet the initial criteria and was later booked in for a survey with Warmworks. At the end of the survey, they confirmed that he would be eligible for a new gas central heating system.
Allan and Tina were thrilled.
Our handy service fitted thermal curtains to help prevent heat loss and keep them warm and the LED’s which would not only reduce their electricity bill but provide a much better quality of light too.
After the new heating system was installed Allan and Tina felt much warmer in their home and have noticed a decrease in the symptoms associated with their health issues as a result. They are no longer worrying about their fuel costs and now have a suitable amount of income to live comfortably.
Cosy Kingdom
Cosy Kingdom is a free and impartial home energy advice service available to anyone in Fife. You can get in touch by calling us on 01592 858458, texting COSY and your name to 88440 or request a visit through our online booking form.