Neil Hudson is the MP for Penrith and the Border, veterinary surgeon and Member of the EFRA Select Committee, and Glynn Williams is the UK Managing Director of Grundfos
Energy bills are a top priority for many around the country, but particularly in rural areas. While the latest energy price cap will relieve many, the average cost of powering a home is still well above what it was in April 2021, when the energy price cap increased to pre-pandemic levels. Nearly 48 per cent of UK households missed or defaulted on their energy payments last year.
The Chancellor’s extension of the Household Support Fund announced in the Spring Budget came as another welcome lifeline for households struggling to make ends meet. But the Government can look at doing more to tackle the problem at its root. Moving forward, we should heighten awareness of cost-effective energy efficiency measures and develop programmes to incentivise the adoption of energy efficiency technologies.
To help households realise long-term energy savings, the Government could explore connecting consumers with accessible, cost-effective energy solutions that can deliver sustained relief to those grappling with high energy costs.
The Government has an opportunity to champion energy policies that address the concerns of households nationwide. Recent polling conducted by Grundfos, a global leader in water and energy efficiency, and J.L. Partners, suggests that by championing low-effort, high-impact energy measures, the Government can generate easy wins for people’s pockets. Incentivising adoption of these new technologies could also create new economic opportunities and equip more workers with vital green skills, supporting the levelling-up agenda.
It is time policymakers in Whitehall stopped taking a one-size-fits-all approach to energy efficiency. Rural Britain is very different from urban Britain. Indeed, conversations around Britain’s energy efficiency landscape are incomplete without considering those living in rural homes.
With an estimated 9.7 million people living in rural areas in England alone as of 2030, the national drive for residential energy efficiency must address energy efficiency in all homes, including those in rural areas. By raising awarenesses of cost-effective, but often overlooked, energy efficiency measures, the Government can help rural communities not only reduce their carbon footprint but lower energy bills, improve comfort, and enhance the resilience of their homes.
Previous research from Grundfos and the Centre for Economic and Business Researcher (CEBR) calculated the cumulative loss to UK homes and businesses from inefficient energy systems to be £3.1 billion each year. Our built environment has not changed appreciably since then.
Against this backdrop, ‘switch voters’ – those who voted Conservative in 2019 and plan to vote Labour in the coming election – feel particularly strongly about this, so there is a real opportunity here to pull these voters back if the Government gets this right.
The financial burden of inflated energy bills is particularly acute in rural areas, where properties tend to be less energy efficient than the national average. It is no surprise then that the average fuel poverty gap in rural areas is more than double the national average.
Another contributing factor is a perceived lack of awareness of energy efficiency solutions among rural residents. Many homeowners may be unaware of simple yet effective measures they can take to reduce energy consumption.
With 124 constituencies classified as “village or smaller” – that is, where at least a plurality of voters live in “rural output areas” – ministers could craft compelling, evidence-based policy that addresses the very real challenge of pursuing energy efficiency in rural residential buildings and raising awareness amongst rural voters about the energy efficiency measures available to them. This challenge, after all, affects almost 20 per cent of the electorate.
Collaborating with local authorities, community groups, and industry stakeholders will be essential in designing and implementing effective awareness strategies, particularly for hard-to-reach areas.
As mentioned, the energy efficiency challenge remains poorly understood. Only one in five voters are ‘very confident’ that their home is as energy efficient as they could be, and many struggle to identify the most cost-effective means of improving it.
Only one-third of those surveyed include optimising their heating system in the top three home efficiency improvements they consider. Replacing an outdated circulator pump, using a controlling device such as a thermostat, or balancing a heating system to improve heat distribution represent cost-effective energy solutions that often go overlooked in favour of more conventional but costlier measures.
For instance, running an inefficient circulator pump – the gadget that moves hot water around a property – can be a prime source of excessive energy consumption. Investing in a new circulator pump could help a household lower its energy bills by as much as £110 a year, effectively paying for itself within two years. Yet around half of voters are ‘unsure’ about the potential for circulator pumps to lower their energy bills.
Meanwhile, using a radiator thermostat can help households manage their heating more efficiently. The controlling device can automatically feed the correct amount of hot water into a radiator, avoiding energy waste while bringing a room to the desired temperature. And as far as temperature is concerned, adjusting a boiler down to 50-70 Celsius can suitably warm a property while reducing energy use by around 9 per cent.
Similarly, most people miss out on the potential savings that hydraulic balancing can deliver, with only 10 per cent of heating systems in Britain’s buildings properly balanced. Hydraulic balancing – the process of adjusting a heating system to ensure hot water is distributed to radiators most efficiently – can save up to £129 each year.
Government can equip voters with the cost-effective energy measures they are looking for. Doing so could be as simple as updating official online guidance on energy efficiency to include detailed information on the potential to save on energy bills by replacing old circulator pumps, using radiator thermostats, and balancing heating systems.
With the fuel poverty gap as stark as it is between urban and rural households, the Government must address the energy efficiency challenges that rural homes face. By promoting awareness and incentivising technology adoption, we can work towards making rural homes more energy efficient and sustainable, advancing the Government’s pivotal levelling-up agenda by creating economic opportunities and equipping workers with in-demand green skills.
The post Neil Hudson and Glyn Williams: How to address rural Britain’s energy efficiency challenge appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: Dr Neil Hudson MP and Glyn Williams
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