People who fit energy saving devises then tend to use more – survey
20/3/2010 SURVEYS of hundreds of UK households reveal that people who have made their houses more energy efficient are more likely to indulge in small excesses—turning upthe heating, for example, or keeping it on for longer.Small excesses add up to large costs. The results of the studies — seven of them in total —
suggest that such energy creep could wipe out as much as half of the anticipated savings
from making homes more energy efficient (Building Research & Information, vol 38, issue 1).
“Some householders who install double-glazing, insulation and energy-efficient boilers end up
using fuel at close to the old levels, often because they are more concerned about comfort than saving energy,”
says David Lomas of Loughborough University, UK. He was a lead member of the UK-governmentfunded
consortium which carried out the surveys.
Lomas says the results question whether the government’s target of reducing energy consumption in homes
to 20 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 is achievable.
Paul Stern of the US National Research Council agrees but emphasises that efficiency measures do save energy overall.
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