Five hundred vulnerable homes across the UK are to be the recipients of the UK's first fully funded ground-source heat pump offer from Kensa Heat Pumps.

The offer is aimed at housing associations, and the ground-source heat pump manufacturer Kensa claims the ‘Free the Heat' offer will help to protect the most vulnerable from fuel poverty with total expected energy savings upwards of £200,000 (US$295,040) per annum.

Simon Lomax, managing director of the Kensa Group, commented: "The increasing focus on the UK's high levels of fuel poverty highlights a growing need to reduce heating bills. Ultra-efficient ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) provide the most economic heating with costs even lower than a mains gas condensing boiler.

"This free offer is expected to halve many tenants' heating costs and will appeal to landlords too as ground-source heat pumps are remarkably reliable and durable."

"More significant energy savings are possible when displacing night storage heaters or oil boiler-based systems, so we expect this free offer to be hugely popular with housing providers with stock in off gas areas. The plan is to deliver the heating upgrades throughout the summer so tenants receive the benefits before next winter," Simon continued.

This is the first time that ground-source heat pumps have been offered for free to housing associations, and includes full ownership of the heat pump retained by the housing provider. The offer is financed through combinations of the Renewable Heat Incentive streams and the Energy Companies Obligation subsidy in the UK.