Households in North 'wasting millions on energy'
Millions are being wasted on energy inefficiency in homes throughout the North, new research claimed today.
Even though fuel poverty levels are the highest in the UK, householders could do more to combat climate change, according to a major survey carried out by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the Energy Saving Trust.
Appliances are being left on standby and too many people fail to take other simple measures that would save on bills.
A comprehensive survey reveals that although awareness of the issue is growing, few people are taking the problem seriously. The report claimed that 17% have not even heard of climate change and of the rest surveyed 29% said they were not worried about it.
Noel Rice, Energy Conservation Manager at the NIHE said: "Northern Ireland currently has the highest levels of fuel poverty in the UK with a high ratio of people's average income spent on fuel. Increasing energy efficiency is critical in both tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions. "
The survey found that the number of electrical appliances in homes is increasing all the time with around 70% of households having more than 15 electrical appliances in operation. Despite this large numbers leave appliances on standby,
According to research, 48% admitted leaving their TVs plugged in at night, and 37% to leaving phone chargers on all the time.
The survey found that up to 20 appliances could be left on standby, or charging, at any one time in the average household. It was also claimed that 22% admitted to always leaving appliances on standby with 39% leaving lights on unnecessarily - either sometimes or often.
The vast majority of householders now have full heating controls on their system - and yet around one third of them do not know how to use them properly, the survey claimed.
Mr Rice added:" This is really quite disturbing. We know that we can make big savings just by making small adjustments to the thermostat. We really need to help people understand how their systems work."
The survey found a lot of support for renewable energy. Ninety percent of people would like to see increased use of solar power with the next most favoured options being wind power (76%) and energy from waste (73%).
However, very few households have renewable sources themselves.
"It's quite clear from these findings that we need to work hard to help people to understand the issues more fully and to change their behaviours," said Mr Rice.
"Everyone stands to gain from greater energy efficiency and we all need to help to achieve it."
