Octopus Energy tells customers they can slash bills by £300

Octopus Energy customers have been told they could save £300 on their energy bills. It's part of a heating upgrade grant being handed to 300,000 homes by the Government.

Selected homes across the UK will be handed £7,500 each to replace their boilers with heat pumps in 2025. Experts say a heat pump saves customers as much as £100 a year off bills, while insulation can take another £200 off, the costs of which are covered by the scheme.

It comes as energy bills are due to rise again in January, with the typical household paying £21 a year more. The Government has relaxed planning regulations to allow heat pumps to be installed more quickly, while insulation will also be offered to more homes as part of the scheme in a bid to ensure more will take up the offer and ditch their boilers.

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Octopus has told its customers they could save £300 by using a heat pump, the Express reports, amid a national push to reduce boiler usage. The Government said: “Households install an air source heat pump without needing to submit a planning application in England – removing the 1m rule, with figures from Octopus showing 34% of those who order a heat pump are discouraged or drop out for reasons attributed to planning permission.

“Working alongside the Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, the Warm Homes Plan will ensure millions more households benefit from homegrown energy delivered by every new turbine, solar panel or pylon built on the path to energy independence. This includes boosting the budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support more households switch to a heat pump – which can save families around £100 a year compared to a gas boiler by using a smart tariff effectively, and insulating more homes across the country – potentially saving homeowners around £200 per year.”

Octopus' price comparison shows households will save £300 a year on average on its Octopus Cosy heat pump tariff against using a traditional boiler on Flexible Octopus, at £1,391 per year instead of £1,691. Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, said: “More than a third of customers who order a heat pump drop out because of planning issues, leaving them stuck with dirty, inefficient gas boilers.

"Removing outdated and unnecessary red tape is an urgent priority to grow this sector and get low cost, safe, clean heating technology into British homes.”