Providing free energy advice in the kingdom of Fife

The Cosy Kingdom service primarily supports people living in fuel poverty, however it can also support anyone alongside other projects delivered by the partners, such as Climate Friendly Homes, to widen its reach to ‘able to pay’ households. 

Cosy Kingdom supports householders who have issues with energy billing, metering and disconnection, energy debt and income maximisation and advocacy with third parties, such as energy suppliers. This complements the Home Energy Scotland service very well and provides an avenue for support for householders facing these issues. Cosy Kingdom often pilots unique approaches, such as the current Boiler Repair Fund, which supports homeowners with broken or faulty heating systems (those who are not eligible for support to improve the energy efficiency of their home heating from the Scottish Government’s Warmer Homes Scotland) and the Fife Free Gas Servicing project for vulnerable households. They have a means-tested handy service for small measures such as thermal curtains, draught proofing and LED bulbs. 

How does the service work with Home Energy Scotland? 

Cosy Kingdom makes referrals to Home Energy Scotland primarily to explore funding for energy saving home improvements, and for water-saving device packs funded by Scottish Water, as Fife is a high priority area under Scottish Water’s criteria as a water-stressed local authority area.

Home Energy Scotland offers free training to Cosy Kingdom advisors to help them:  

• identify and correctly refer householders in fuel poverty – i.e Save Energy at Home workshop/briefing, Home Energy Scotland referral portal user training. 
• better understand renewables/hard-to-treat homes. 
• give good advice on electric heating and restricted meter tariffs, or on air source heat pumps.

This training equips their advisors to give energy advice that’s aligned with Home Energy Scotland’s to help ensure advice offered to households in Fife is consistent with the rest of Scotland. 

What is the outcome of the partnership? 

Home Energy Scotland works in partnership with local energy advice services where they are available and does not displace or duplicate those local services. Home Energy Scotland’s south east team benefits from Greener Kirkcaldy’s great reputation, knowledge and access to their local communities and willingness to collaborate. Home Energy Scotland often partners with Cosy Kingdom on events to provide advice to householders, reinforcing that our services are complementary rather than being in competition. Home Energy Scotland doesn't carry out Energycarer visits or Home Renewables Advice home visits in Fife because Cosy Kingdom is able to provide these. Householders benefit from this partnership by being connected with a wide range of support and offerings that are most suitable for them.

In 2023-24, Home Energy Scotland referred 199 households to Greener Kirkcaldy, 149 of which were for the Cosy Kingdom service. Home Energy Scotland received 295 referrals from Greener Kirkcaldy, 273 of which came from Cosy Kingdom. Due to their close working relationship, and the team’s expertise, these referrals convert to Warmer Homes Scotland referrals more frequently than referrals from any other partner of Home Energy Scotland’s south east team.  

Find out more about the partnership work we do, and if you’d like to get involved, contact our team today.