Fuel Poverty

Space and water heating accounts for over 70% of the energy we use in our homes and as energy prices continue to rise, more households are struggling with bills and the number falling into fuel poverty* is increasing. The days of cheap energy supplies in the UK appear to be over and whilst this is good news for the environment because it focuses all of our attention on cutting energy use, it is bad news for hard-pressed households also struggling with rising prices in food, transport and the general costs of living.

Fuel Poverty Gas prices have risen at a rate previously not seen before and they look certain to rise again. In parts of the country which are off the gas network, there are households who simply cannot afford the huge bills needed to fill their oil tanks, and who also then worry about the rise in theft of this precious commodity.

Ecodan can immediately help reduce running costs to alleviate fuel poverty. By extracting renewable energy from the outdoor air the system maximises the energy provided to the household and can offer a reduction in run costs over gas, LPG and even more over oil, and direct electric.**

The Scottish Government’s two year pilot study “The Scottish Renewable Heating Pilot” carried out in conjunction with the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to evaluate the impact on fuel poverty of using renewable based solutions has stated the following: “Air Source Heat Pumps were found to provide the greatest overall value for money in terms of households lifted from fuel poverty per £1m capital spend”

NEA Business SupporterMitsubishi Electric is proud to be a supporter of NEA and its efforts to tackle fuel poverty. In particular, we are committed to working with NEA’s Technical Team to highlight the difference that the new generation of air source heat pumps can make to vulnerable householders who are struggling to pay their fuel bills, particularly for those people living in rural areas which do not have access to the cheapest forms of fuel.

*A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime” – DECC

** Potential low energy performance benefits will depend on satisfactory system design and installation, and operational settings, i.e.how you use the heating system.