Critical factors for the Adoption of Smart Homes for Energy Efficiency

Charities warn recent broken manifesto promise means the poorest households, living in least efficient homes are set to miss out on up to £750 a year cut to their energy bills

This year’s UKFPM identifies the opportunities associated with decarbonising heat for fuel poor households; the barriers they face in doing so; the likely risks of the decarbonisation agenda for them; and which policy developments and interventions are required to ensure that the decarbonisation of domestic heating can be fair and affordable.

Improved insulation and heating standards are seen as the most rational and sustainable means of mitigating heating price increases and ensuring affordable warmth. While we must decarbonise our energy system, we must also ensure that the needs of those on lower incomes and experiencing fuel poverty should be protected. We commend both Councils for designing and developing this strategy and have also made some comments to the questions posed in the consultation.

NEA commissioned this report to help stimulate debate on the policy options we must consider as we seek to decarbonise heat alongside delivering fuel poverty strategies across the UK. It helpfully draws out some of the tensions and challenges we face in changing the way in which we heat our homes, and the authors help us to consider the cost implications and distributional impacts of different funding mechanisms.