The British gas boiler scrappage scheme is back, for a month with the gas provider offering £400 to anyone who trades in their old boiler.
British Gas will offer £400 to anyone trading in their inefficient boiler for a more energy efficient model but there’s only a month to apply.
The British Gas boiler scrappage scheme will last for a month until 30th June 2011. Under the scrappage scheme British Gas will replace G-rated boilers with an A-rated model and customers will receive £400 off any of their Worcester range boilers or £200 off other boiler models.
But how do you know if you have a G-rated boiler? One way of telling if you have an older, inefficient boiler, is to check if it has a pilot light which is on all the time. If it does then it’s likely that it’s a G-rated boiler.
But basically if it’s a gas fired boiler and is over 15 years old, it’s likely to be eligible for the scrappage scheme. If it’s an oil fired boiler and over 20 years old then this too will be eligible for the scrappage scheme. In fact British Gas estimates that around 3.5 million boilers in the UK could be eligible for its scrappage scheme.
To qualify for the scheme you don’t even have to be a British Gas customer. The gas supplier has also said that customers don’t have to sign up to any other services such gas and electricity or any particular energy tariff to qualify.
So long as customers meet the criteria and they then decide to buy a new boiler, they will benefit from £400 off the cost of a new boiler. A British Gas spokeswoman said the boilers used in the scheme start at around £2,000, including installation.
However, changing to a more energy efficient model should reduce gas bills because they use less fuel, although it’s suggested that the pay-back time for the boiler could take around 8 years.
At the beginning of 2010 the Government ran a boiler scrappage scheme which several energy suppliers contributed to. Many either offered their own scrappage scheme or matched the Government’s scrappage allowance. It means other energy providers may follow British Gas and offer a boiler scrappage scheme – we’ll keep you informed if they do.
