Home energy consumption has been reduced, but what are the reasons?

Some good news for a change. In each of the past three years, the amount of fuel burnt in UK homes has reduced. Reversing what had looked like an inexorable long-term trend of increases.
The biggest drop has been in gas consumption, down 12 per cent in just three years. Gas being the main fuel for heating and hot water, that implies our heating systems and building fabric are getting more efficient. Or it could just mean we have had some unusually mild winters. Or, more alarmingly, that rising prices are leading to deliberate heat rationing.
With the number of gadgets per home increasing, one might have expected electricity consumption to be rising. But over the past three years, we have just about held steady overall consumption levels in our homes. Again, a comforting headline figure.

Before we become too complacent, we have to remember that, up until 2004, we were witnessing a pretty steady increase in consumption levels. Between 1990 and 2004, overall energy consumption in homes soared by 19 per cent.

In its 2004 Housing Act, the Government legislated that during this decade English households would become 20 per cent more energy efficient. Are we on track to achieve this statutory commitment?

continue