Support for Rural Homes

Energy saving tips for rural homes

You don’t have to spend a penny to start saving on your energy bills. Look at our guides on how to reduce your energy bills and easy ways to save energy to start saving today. From switching off stand-by to saving water, these changes really do add up to help you save energy and money.

We understand that asking for help can feel challenging. Our friendly advisors are on hand to support you with free, impartial and personalised advice to suit your needs.  

Off-gas areas and heating solutions

If your home isn’t connected to the natural gas network, finding other heating solutions is crucial. We can help you explore options like installing renewable energy generation such as a heat pump or solar panels, which can reduce your energy costs and environmental impact. These renewable technologies are particularly well-suited for rural homes, and we can give you advice on their benefits, costs, and how suitable they may be for you. We’ve got info on other ways to make your home warmer too.

Working out what improvements to make

Complete a Home Energy Check

Our Home Energy Check helps you think about energy saving home improvements. This online tool, which is free to use, works out how much energy you may be using, then suggests changes to help you cut down the cost of your energy bills.

Get an Energy Performance Certificate

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) gives information about your home’s energy efficiency and ways it could be improved. Getting an updated EPC could help speed up the process of accessing any funding because it will help you find out what changes are needed in your home. To see if you have an EPC for your home, or to search for EPC assessors in your area, check the Scottish EPC register.

Funding

Making your home more energy efficient will lower your energy bills, but paying the upfront cost of improvements such as improving insulation or heating can put people off.

The good news is that we can help you find funding to help with the costs. For example, you might be able to spread the cost with an interest-free loan or get a grant to cover much-needed home improvements. You could also benefit from a specific rural uplift grant.

You can use our handy Funding Finder to search for funding and support or contact us directly.

Finding certified installers

Finding certified installers for insulation, renewable technologies, and other energy efficiency measures can be challenging in rural areas - but we have some tips on how to find them on our Home Energy Scotland Grand and Loan page. You can search for MCS-certified installers in your area and read customer reviews on Energy Saving Trust’s Renewables Installer Finder.

Get advice

We’re here to help you with more than just renewable solutions. We can give you guidance and support to make changes in your daily habits to save energy and money and can offer affordable options to reduce your bills.

We know that each household is different, and our friendly and impartial advisors will help you to find the support that best fits your needs. Call us on 0808 808 2282 – we’re open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm. You can contact us by email or chat on WhatsApp too.