What is fuel poverty?

Fuel poverty is the inability to afford sufficient fuel for health and comfort, arising from combination of low income, poor housing and inefficient and uneconomic heating systems.

It's very important to understand a distinction between poverty and
fuel poverty. One can purchase clothing, food or go on holidays, but one can't buy warmth. The cost of warmth to a householder is dependent, not only on the cost of the fuel itself, but on the efficiency of the heating system and the insulation standard of the building itself.

What causes fuel poverty?

Fuel poverty occurs in households where the heating costs are high relative to the household income. Heating costs should be understood as the cost of providing adequate warmth for the household, rather than actual expenditure on heating. Fuel poverty will tend to occur in households with high warmth requirements, residing in dwellings with poor fuel efficiency characteristics.
Household warmth requirements are determined by:

• The temperatures which the household members feel are adequate;
• The household size;
• The lifestyle of the household members, which influences the length of time they spend in the home.

What are household warmth requirements?

Prolonged exposure to temperatures below 16° C causes increased risk to health due to respiratory problems and temperatures below 12° C increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks. The minimum temperature required to give an adequate level of warmth is 18° C. Boardman (1991) estimated the temperature levels for each room that would need to be achieved in a low income household (accounting for the longer periods of occupancy) to ensure an adequate level of comfort:
"a temperature of 21° C in two rooms, kitchen and bathroom for 13 hours during the day for the first occupant and an additional room for each person when they are in the home. At night 16° C in the bedrooms of people vulnerable to respiratory disease. Other unoccupied rooms to be maintained at 14° C to prevent condensation, mould growth and thus, ill health. This gives a 24-hour, whole house mean internal temperature of 18°C". These findings are based on the UK Building Research Establishment's Domestic Energy Model.

Warmth requirements will tend to be high for people who, due to their circumstances, spend much of their time at home. The following groups of people tend to spend more time in their homes and therefore require longer periods of heating.

• Elderly people.
• The unemployed.
• Households with children who are of pre-school age.
• People restricted to the house due to illness and disability.

Temperatures and Health.

°C
24    Comfort and health
22
18
16    Increasing risk of respiratory disorders
14
12
10    Cardiovascular Strain
8
6
4      Risk of hypothermia after 2 hours
2
0

Source: Boardman (1993)

Fuel poverty facts.

• 12% of households cannot afford to adequately heat their home in Ireland.
• Open fires without a back boiler have an efficiency level of just 25% and are an expensive form of heating.
• It's equally expensive to use secondary heating such as electric bar fires and bottle gas.
• Most householders heat only one room and suffer from the cold despite large weekly expenditure on fuel. This often results in dampness.
• The elderly due to age tend to be less active and thus require higher temperature to feel comfortable and avoid health risks.
• For the elderly, living in houses below 12 C, there is an increased risk of heart attack and strokes.
• Treating cold-related illnesses cost much more than investing money into insulation work.