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Home energy audits could save households up to £230 a year

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07 May 2007

Providing every home with a free energy audit could lead to UK household on average saving up to £230 a year on their energy bills and a total carbon dioxide saving of over 30 million tonnes, according to new research published today (Monday) by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). The report says that the energy we use in our homes accounts for around 60 per cent of the average person’s CO2 emissions.

ippr’s report says that the Government, working in partnership with the energy companies, should roll out free home energy audits to the UK’s 24 million households by 2012. These would offer advice on the most cost effective way for homes to use less energy and could give annual savings of up to £6 billion on energy bills.

Home energy audits provide advice on fitting insulation in cavity walls and loft spaces, installing efficient condensing boilers and other measures. They could also give guidance on installing micro-renewable technology like wind and solar power, which offer further cost savings in the long-term and help to cut emissions. They also help homeowners access the grants that are available to make improvements.

ippr’s report argues for the Government to accelerate the introduction of an obligation on energy suppliers to reduce energy use, to replace the current commitment to encourage householders to be more energy efficient. This would incentivise energy companies to help consumers pay for energy efficiency improvements identified in home energy audits.

Simon Retallack, ippr Head of Climate Change, said:

“An Englishman’s home is his castle but it is also one of the biggest contributors to the UK’s CO2 emissions. Giving every home an energy audit will not only help ensure they contribute less to climate change, but could also save homeowners over £200 a year.

“Energy companies need to do more to help homeowners tackle climate change. Working with the Government to provide all homes with an energy audit is important. But the Government should require energy companies to go further by bringing forward a new obligation on suppliers to reduce energy demand. Energy companies have been able to out do government efficiency targets for homes in the past, so we should be confident that they will be able to rise to this new challenge.”

Notes to editors:

Positive Energy: Harnessing people power to prevent climate change, by Simon Retallack and Tim Lawrence with Matthew Lockwood, sets out a series of recommendations on how to stimulate climate-friendly behaviour through changes in domestic energy use and transport choices.

Estimates of cost and energy savings potential from energy efficiency, conservation and micro-generation measures are available in this document (pdf).

The annual £231 saving is calculated by dividing the total savings £5.7 billion by the 24.7 million households in the UK (ONS 2004).

Almost 60 per cent of an average UK citizen is C02 contribution comes from using energy in the home. Of these emissions, three quarters come from heating space and water alone (the single largest contributor to emissions by individuals in a given year), and one quarter from powering refrigerators, lights, ovens, washing and dishwashing machines, and consumer electronics.

Households that take up offers under the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) are already given energy audits. Homes being sold and rented must also undergo an energy audit as part of the Home Information Pack requirement for an Energy Performance Report, but this only covers 1.5 million homes.

The cost of carrying out an energy audit is between £40 and 80.

The Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) places an obligation on energy suppliers to deliver energy savings in homes by encouraging customers to install insulation, energy-efficient appliances, lighting and heating – partly by offering subsidised products. The cost of the EEC – around £400 million per year – is funded by a levy on all energy bills.

The target for Phase I of the EEC (2002–05) was exceeded by 35 per cent, and the excess carried over to contribute towards Phase II (2005–08). Despite this, the EEC has failed to stop the upward trend in domestic energy consumption – especially of electricity – of about 1 per cent per year. This is because the approach taken by suppliers under the EEC does little to encourage consumers to consider their energy demand and purchasing behaviour, or their effect on the environment.

The Government’s 2006 Energy Review propose to consult on transforming the existing Energy Efficiency Commitment from a commitment to encourage householders to undertake efficiency measures into a commitment to encourage them to actually reduce energy use. Suppliers would be given energy-reduction targets to achieve across their consumer base. This would give suppliers an incentive to sell efficient ‘energy services’ – i.e. the same warmth, light and power, but using less energy. But this is not being considered as a policy option before 2011. ippr argues that the Government should bring its introduction forward to 2008. Energy suppliers can finance large energy-efficiency investments, as they can offer on-bill repayments of capital cost, which can be set against lower bills.

Contact:

Matt Jackson, ippr senior media officer, 020 7339 0007 / 07753 719289 / m.jackson@ippr.org

Richard Darlington, ippr media manager, 020 7470 6177 / 07738 320 645 / r.darlington@ippr.org