Over 9.7 million households yet to alter domestic energy usage

NEW research has revealed that 9.7 million households have not taken steps to change their home energy usage.

Any initiative to change their home energy usage helps to save hundreds of pounds and help cut their contribution to global warming.

Even one small change such as only filling the kettle with as much water as you need has the potential to save households £1.1 billion and stop two million tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

Citizens Advice and Energy Saving Trust have joined forces, backed by Business and Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom, to help close the knowledge gap and inspire households to take small steps to save their family money and help the country on the road to net zero by 2050.

New research marking the start of Big Energy Saving Week 2020 (January 20-26) has revealed a significant gap in consumer understanding about managing their household energy use and the simple steps people can take to reduce their carbon footprint.

The survey, conducted by Citizens Advice and Energy Saving Trust, shows that over a third (36 per cent) of British households have not made changes to their energy usage at home in recent years.

That’s 9.7 million households that experts say need more help and encouragement with ways to save money and reduce their household emissions.

Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of people are surprised to hear the extent British homes contribute to global warming. British homes are responsible for around 25 per cent of carbon emissions, making them one of the largest contributors to the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Head of Consumer Advice at Energy Saving Trust, Laura McGadie, said: “Our research shows that while great strides have been made by some households, more can be done, and by more people. If every household in Britain made just a handful of energy saving changes, the combined impact could make a big difference to our finances and the environment...”

The vast majority of households (87 per cent) think small changes will make little or no difference to their finances. A third of respondents (31 per cent) don’t consider managing their energy use as a priority or think it would cost them something to control it (19 per cent).

However, new analysis by the Energy Saving Trust has found that four simple changes alone have the potential to save households around £100 a year – and help towards the UK reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

Turning your thermostat down by one degree would save households £800 million and cut 3.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

Changing light bulbs to LEDs would save households £230 million and 430k tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

Turning appliances off rather than keeping them on standby would save households £690 million and curb the release of 1.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions.

Only using the right amount of water in your kettle would save households £1.1 billion and stop two million tonnes of carbon emissions being released annually.

The total carbon savings if households took these four simple steps would be the equivalent of taking around three million cars off the road.