Effects of Fuel Poverty

Energy debt. One in five families has been in energy debt, with the average level of energy debt up from £320 in 2005 to £431 in 2015.

Health problems. The health and well-being of children suffers as a result of living in fuel poverty and cold homes. Children living in cold homes are more likely to:

• suffer from respiratory problems

• have more and longer mild illnesses

• need to take time off school due to illness

• have lower weight gain and more hospital admissions as infants

• suffer from mental health problems particularly as adolescents

How being energy efficient can reduce fuel poverty

Therefore, energy efficiency of a household can have a great effect on whether or not that household will fall into fuel poverty. The less energy a household needs to consume, the lower their energy bills with be. Families that can use providers using ‘cleaner’ or ‘green’ energy should mean cheaper bills in the long-term, as renewable energy is infinite.

Government targets

The government’s 2015 Fuel Poverty Strategy states that tackling fuel poverty is a government priority. Its focus is helping vulnerable households through improving the energy efficiency of the housing available, so that fuel bills can be cut, homes and people are warmer and healthier, and carbon emissions cut.

How to be more energy efficient?

There are a range of energy suppliers in the UK that households can choose from, although there are six large suppliers that have a monopoly on the market and service over 90% of UK homes. There are:

1. British Gas: British Gas is the largest supplier in the UK, servicing more than 11 million homes with gas and 6 million with electricity. It is a subsidiary of the UK-based Centrica group which also owns Scottish Gas.
2. EDF Energy: EDF energy supplies gas and electricity to 6 million homes. It‘s wholly owned by the French national provider EDF SA and is also the largest electricity producer in the UK.
3. E.ON: E.ON provides energy to around 7 million homes and is owned by German E.ON AG. Prior to its 2002 acquisition it was known as Powergen.
4. npower: npower provides energy to around 5 million homes. Having begun life as Innogy, it was purchased by German RWE in 2002.
5. Scottish Power: Scottish Power also has around 5 million residential customers. It was acquired by Spanish-based Iberdrola in 2006.
6. SSE: Scottish and southern is the second-largest energy supplier with almost 9 million customers. It’s a Scottish-registered company trading on the London Stock Exchange and a major hydro and wind energy producer.

One of the main ways customers are encouraged to get the best deal is to go onto comparison websites. These include websites such as ‘Uswitch’, ‘MoneySuperMarket’ and ‘Which’.

EU Energy Label pdf has some ‘top tips’ on how to save energy. These are:

• Run your washing machine and dishwasher with full loads

• Switch off lights when not needed

• Don’t leave your appliances on standby

• Use economy and low temperature settings

• Ensure that fridges and freezers are installed away from cookers and other sources of heat