A rapid review of the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of interventions that make homes warmer and cheaper to heat for households in fuel poverty in rural and remote areas
The cost of living crisis has been apparent in the UK since early 2021.
Living in a rural area is often associated with additional costs compared to urban areas.
Reasons for this include:
- Homes not connected to a mains gas supply
- Use of expensive oil or petroleum gas for heating
- Old housing stock in rural areas
- Poorly insulated buildings, and less efficient heating systems
Fuel poverty can be defined as a household spending more than 10% of their income on fuel for satisfactory heating and comfort and to sustain all energy services.
Aim
To determine the effectiveness of interventions that make homes warmer and cheaper to heat for households in fuel poverty in rural or remote homes.
Finding answers to these questions was of prime importance to the review team.
Results
Fourteen studies and eight sources of grey literature were included in the review, published between 2007 and 2022.
Evidence of Effectiveness:
Energy efficiency home improvements / retrofitting
- significantly improved energy efficiency ratings and increased living room temperatures
- energy bills did not reduce significantly
Home improvements, such as replacing lightbulbs and electric heaters
- increased energy efficiency ratings
- reduced electricity consumption
- no change was detected in gas consumption
Installing central heating
- significantly improved householders’ ability to pay energy bills
- reduced energy costs
- fewer households avoided heating their homes due to costs
- minimal change in average indoor temperatures
Home improvements (external insulation / heating systems / loft insulation)
- increased thermal comfort
- reduced energy consumption
Energy related advice
- can make an impact on energy bill savings
Energy ‘living labs’ (energy monitoring equipment provided with user support)
- significantly increased the likelihood of householders’ installing energy efficiency measures
- improved energy savings
- reduced costs
- increased consciousness of energy related behaviour
Welsh Government | Arbed (home improvement and energy efficiency measures)
- significantly increased indoor air temperatures
- healthy comfort zone temperatures (18-240c)
- improved thermal satisfaction
- reduced average daily gas consumption and financial difficulties
- reduced numbers of people having to feel cold to save on heating costs
- energy costs reduced, and energy efficiency ratings improved (EPC and SAP ratings)
Welsh Government | Nest (home improvements and advice)
- enabled householders to better heat their homes
- reduced their energy bills
- increased awareness of energy use
Home energy advice, referral for support and/or insulation measures or home improvements
- may make homes warmer, cheaper to heat
- enable householders to keep up with energy bill payments
Social energy subsidies
- might not be effective in reducing fuel poverty
- energy efficient social housing was a more efficient method of alleviating fuel poverty
Strength of the Evidence
The results should be interpreted with caution, as the certainty in the evidence is very low due to the quality of included studies. It is possible that with new research studies, findings of this rapid review might change.
Policy and Practice Implications
- There is a need for high quality, well-developed randomised controlled trials to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency measures and advice.
- Future research should investigate which interventions are the most effective in what types of housing in rural areas to help the targeting of interventions better.
- Policy makers and funding bodies need to make further investments into research focusing on measures to alleviate fuel poverty, with particular focus on economic analysis.
- It would seem very important that recommendations in this report are enacted.
Lay Summary, written by Debs Smith, April 2023
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