Introduction
I am writing this page in January 2026.
It has been a good few years since I updated my site, in the main
due to the effects of a quite severe allergic reaction to
antibiotics which seemed to fry my brain! It seemed severe to me
anyway.
I have an update too, just over five years ago I moved house, to a
bungalow just a few miles away, in a Norfolk village with no mains
gas. This one is a real bungalow, not a prefab made to look like a
bungalow as was the last.
The move and everything leading up to it took a very, very long
time and the final stages happened in the middle of the Covid
epidemic and the finaal moving of myself, my furniture and very
many bags and boxes, took place in one of the breaks between
lockdowns.
I have only electric storage heating here so there is little I
could control or monitor with fhem so
my fhem bits and pieces have not been unpacked and set up here.
This might change as I have been awarded a grant to install a
heatpump, and solar panels along with a wet heating system and
non-vented hot water cylinder.
As this ECO4 journey unfolds I
hope to keep updating this page.
ECO4
ECO4 is a scheme set up by the
Government to help households achieve their goal of becoming 100%
carbon neutral.
One part of this scheme is LA FLEX, an acronym for ‘Local
Authority Eligibility Flexibility’. This is designed to help
households that might be living in fuel poverty but whose
occupenats do not receive any qualifying benefit under ECO4. LA
FLEX allows participating Local Authorities to refer private
households to energy suppliers and installers where they are
considered to have low-income, fuel poor or vulnerable to the
effects of living in a cold house.
My LA FLEX grant application was through an East Suffolk company
who write that they are:
Government grant advisors, surveyors and La
flex council application assistance service working with a
nationwide selection of Government pas2035 approved and Government
Trustmark approved contractors.
Monthly Progress
April
2024
April 2025
November 2025
December 2025
January 2026
April 2024
A canvasser knocked on my door and explained that I might be
eligible for a Government grant towards heating, solar and
insulation upgrades and asked if I was interested in applying for
such a grant.
I very rarely engage with door-to-door salesmen and decline any and
all offers but in this case I gave my contact details hoping to
learn more about the scheme at least.
This canvasser was from the above "application assistance
service" company, from whom I later received a number of
brochures and documents by email. There followed a number of missed
calls from said company but as I was about to have soffits and
fascias replaced I ignored them and didn't proceed with the grant
application and all went quiet.
April 2025
About a year later I had another doorstep visit by a canvasser
from the same company. I explained that I had given my details
previously and agreed with him to follow up and submit a grant
application.
I was advised that I should be eligible for "ECO Funding Route
1" which is based on household income.
A telephone interview soon followed and I later submitted various
documents for proof of income, residence, pension etc.
For several months I received regular emails informing me that they
were still waiting to hear back from my council. I was beginning to
lose faith that anything at all might happen.
November 2025
At last!
I received confirmation from the company and my local Council that
I hade been found eligible for a grant under
Route 1, ECO4 LA FLEX.
The official document also stated
Measure(s): Solar panels & electric
storage heaters (high heat retaining)
and included the name of the appointed installer, a local firm
that covers much of Norfolk and Suffolk.
December 2025
I received a phone call to arrange a date for a survey of my
property, and agreed for this to take place on Christmas Eve.
This was a straightforward measured survey undertaken by someone
from the appointed installation firm, a floorplan, room and window
sizes, location and aspect etc.
I signed and agreed to sharing data with the Energy Saving
Trust and another document, "ECO4 & GBIS Eligibility and
Pre-Installation Declaration v1".
A date for a further more detailed and technical survey was
arranged and agreed before the surveyor left.
January 2026
The Tech Survey took place in the first week of the New Year,
undertaken by different surveyor from the appointed installation
firm.
Both surveyors were talking of installation of a heatpump, I was
puzzled by this so queried it and showed the second surveyor at the
start of this visit the confirmation letter from my local Council
that stated:
"Solar panels & electric storage
heaters (high heat retaining)"
The surveyor called a colleague after which I was told that
installing a heatpump was no problem.
Specific areas were measured and we discussed the location of
heatpump, unvented hot water cylinder, radiators etc. He typed much into his
laptop.
I was asked to sign a copy of the company's disclaimer. This looks
to be fairly standard but obviously very much in their favour. I am
very surprised that this is all the paperwork I have received from
them to date.
...
Last week, some two weeks after this survey and two weeks away from
the agreed start of the installation I emailed the company for
confirmation of the agreed date of 2nd February and whether I
should expect to receive further paperwork.
...
I have received no reply to date so now, less than a week away I
have emailed them again.
I am really not at all impressed by this company's failure to reply
and I am beginning to worry that this company is nowhere near as
good as it claims nor as good its referenced Trustpilot reviews claim -
personally I have no confidence in reviews posted on that site.
I wish I had taken more detailed notes and been more specific in
questioning everything about the install, guarantees, calculations,
documentation, procedures, ongoing costs etc.
February 2026?
Installation date set for February 2nd.
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