Liverpool ‘clean tech’ venture Heatio secures £1.2m across two contracts to help homeowners improve heat efficiency and save on their mortgages. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool firm Heatio will help hundreds of homeowners improve the heat efficiency of their homes after winning two contracts worth a total of £1.2m.

Based in the Royal Albert Dock, Heatio has won the contracts from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero through its Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) Green Home Finance Accelerator (GHFA) scheme.

The second project sees Heatio join Perenna Digital Bank and Energy Systems Catapult to provide a 20-30 year fixed rate green mortgage that rewards homeowners with a preferential interest rate for retrofitting their homes with low carbon technologies.

The first scheme introduces the Energy as a Service solution (EaaS), a subscription-based product that aims to eliminate upfront costs for consumers considering heat pumps, solar PV, or battery storage.

Around 350 households in the North West of England will have the opportunity to be the first to benefit from this new service agreement, which is a partnership between Heatio, E.ON and  Energy Systems Catapult, when it’s launched in the spring.

This second scheme will see those considering the installation of clean technologies such as heat pumps, solar PV, or battery storage rewarded with a lower interest rate on their mortgage once the improvements have been completed and validated.

With the UK’s housing stock responsible for 40% of the UK’s total emissions, decarbonising people’s homes plays a pivotal role in the UK’s carbon reduction efforts.

The projects aim to facilitate the adoption of alternative energy sources by making the market accessible to those with lower incomes and no available capital.

Thomas Farquhar, co-founder of Heatio, said: “The most important step towards better energy efficiency and encouraging the adoption of low-carbon technology in UK homes is to remove the financial barriers for the customer.

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“Until now, solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps have often been seen as a luxury only the affluent can afford.

“Many consumers don’t know where to start making energy efficient improvements and are unable to manage the expenses associated with installing, operating, and maintaining technologies like heat pumps and Solar PV. That is about to change.”