The Cut: Did you know this government grant covers air conditioners?

• The Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers £2,500 off the price of an air conditioner. The problem is, hardly anyone knows
• Plug-in solar panels to be made available by August
• Andy Burnham plans big energy bill upheaval

Did you know that it’s possible to get £2,500 off the price of an air conditioning system? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. 

It seems that not a lot of people know that if you use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to get an air-to-air heat pump, you’re getting an air conditioner at the same time because they work in exactly the same way and can be used to keep your home cool in the summer.

Why is that important? Because we’ve just been through, and might still be in the middle of, a huge heatwave. A heatwave that, according to the Met Office, has caused more than 2,700 excess deaths. 

In any other context, this would be considered a natural disaster and it shows how ill-equipped we are as a society to cope with dangerously hot summers. 

We have data from NESTA that shows that even before the heatwave the number of homes in the UK reporting overheating was rising at an alarming rate (1.7 million in 2019 to 3 million in 2024). It’s not hard to imagine the 2025-2030 figure being significantly greater. 

We will soon have a new prime minister, and there’s some welcome rumours that Andy Burnham will make cutting energy bills a priority and has even looked into discounted rates for poorer households. 

That sounds good, but long term it’s only through clean energy that bills will come down to the point where state intervention won’t be necessary.

We have the tools to keep ourselves safe and we could make it affordable for everyone to cool down in the summer and warm up in the winter, if the government expands our clean energy capacity.

Get £2,500 off the price of air conditioning

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, as of April, offers big discounts for air-to-air heat pumps, which work the same way as air conditioners. The problem? Hardly anyone knows about it.

Burnham is planning to cut energy

Middle-income households could save £225 a year if the plans go ahead. The next PM has been working with the Joseph Rowntree foundation to draw up plans that would offer lower rates of electricity and gas.

Plug-in solar could be available by August

That’s right – the next big thing in the solar industry is almost here, if you believe the reports from The Sun and The i Newspaper. This is tremendously exciting news and we’ll bring you all the latest information about plug-in solar when we have it.

Bentley to launch its first ever EV

We don’t know much about it right now, other than that it will be fully unveiled in September. However, it’s good news that yet another premium car brand, after Ferrari earlier in the year, is leaping into electrification. 

Written By

Maximilian Schwerdtfeger Deputy editor

Max joined The Eco Experts as content manager in February 2024 and became deputy editor in 2025. He has written about sustainability issues across numerous industries, including maritime, supply chain, finance, mining, and retail. He has also written extensively for consumer titles like City AM, The Morning Star, and The Daily Express.

He has represented The Eco Experts on national television several times, including the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live and ITV Tonight .

In 2020, he covered in detail the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) legislation on sulphur emissions and its effects on the global container shipping market as online editor of Port Technology International.

He also explored the initiatives major container ports and terminals have launched in order to ship vital goods across the world without polluting the environment.

Since then, he has reported heavily on the impact made by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on the supply chain of minerals, with a particular focus on rare earth mining in Africa.

As part of this, in 2022 Max visited mines and ports in Angola to hone in on the challenges being faced by one of the world’s biggest producers of rare earth minerals.

His most recent sustainability-related work came much closer to home, as he investigated the eco-challenges faced by independent retailers in the UK, specifically looking at how they can cut emissions and continue to thrive.

Max lives in South London and is an avid reader of books on modern history. He has also recently learned to play the game Mahjong and takes every opportunity to do so. He is also yet to find a sport he doesn’t enjoy watching.

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Will Georgiadis

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