An estimated £2.61 million was issued to households through the new Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) during the scheme's first week, according to industry estimates.

Some 1,736 applications were made for the fund, which offers households in England and Wales up to £7,600 cashback for making energy efficient home improvements.

Energy & Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, said: "We've changed the Green Deal to make it simpler and faster for people to make their homes more energy efficient – you could get up to £7,600 back, straight into your bank account. I want as many people as possible to benefit from this unmissable offer. It won’t be around forever, so sign up now and get your home ready for the winter."

Under the new incentive scheme domestic energy customers can get:

The scheme also entitles those who have bought a property in the 12 months prior to application to qualify for up to an additional £500 if they carry out energy efficiency improvements.

The GDHIF was officially launched on 9 June, following calls from the industry to make the Green Deal simpler and more attractive to homeowners.

Peter Thom of heating and energy efficiency company Green Heat was one of those campaigning for the government to amend the Green Deal, which had seen slow uptake since its launch in January 2013.

Mr Thom had also expressed concerns that the original Green Deal cashback scheme was being accessed mostly by the big 6 energy suppliers rather than small installers, following a freedom of information request which showed that British Gas was securing over 95% of the Green Deal cashback vouchers issued.

He said of the GDHIF launch: "This is great news for small installers and householders and it is pleasing that government has at long last listened to our concerns and acted in such a positive way.

"There is £120m available this financial year for householders to improve the energy efficiency of their homes but, unlike the old scheme, householders can deal direct with their trusted local accredited Green Deal Installer and do not have to get tied up in the red tape and added costs of the energy suppliers or Green Deal Providers."

Roger Webb, director of HHIC, described the figures as a good start for the Fund, adding: "This is an encouraging start and suggests that there is an appetite for installing energy efficiency measures. I am very interested to see the detail of what has actually been installed. The scheme has the backing of HHIC, we have been working with DECC during its development and have been promoting it to the installer network. We want to see as many people as possible benefit from the scheme. It will help reduce fuel bills by reducing the amount of energy consumed and will assist in achieving carbon emission targets."