Millions of homes across the country are getting "green makeovers" to help reduce carbon emissions. Skip related content
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Under the proposals, finance packages would be offered to householders to install insulation, solar panels and other energy-saving tools. The Government hopes up to seven million homeowners will sign up for the scheme by 2020.
The repayments will be paid for out of the savings made on gas and electricity bills.
And there would also be guaranteed cash payments for homeowners who generate their own heat energy through technology such as solar panels, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps.
But concerns have been raised that the cash for these payments and a planned levy on fossil fuel energy supplies will see the bills of other households rise.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said the measures would have a "negligible impact on bills" and there would be "benefits across the board".
He said the levy, the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI), intended for introduction in 2011, would not affect today's household bills.
He said: "We have to consult on how it will work and, in fact, our proposals would have little impact on prices for many years, apart from cutting billing for those who take up the offer of help.
"If we are going to protect consumers from the rapid increases in energy prices, this is how it is going to happen, by improving energy efficiency and improving energy security."
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "We need to move from incremental steps forward on household energy efficiency to a comprehensive national plan - the Great British refurb."
"We know the scale of the challenge: wasted energy is costing families on average £300 a year, and more than a quarter of all our emissions are from our homes.
"Energy efficiency and low-carbon energy are the fairest routes to curbing emissions, saving money for families, improving our energy security and insulating us from volatile fossil fuel prices."