Posted 01.10.14
The second part of Sustainable Homes' National Energy Study has been. Undertaken for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the analysis revealed that housing associations who manage property are most trusted by residents to provide advice on how to save energy, followed by energy charities.
Family and friends came third, while local builders, plumbers and electricians were near the bottom. Surprisingly, government and energy companies are trusted by roughly a third of respondents to give trustworthy, impartial advice. This is despite polls earlier this year showing that 'the big six' are held in lower regard than bankers.
As well as asking who residents would trust to give energy saving advice, the survey also looked into energy use within the home. It confirmed that many people continue to struggle to make sense of bills, with 75% saying they had difficulty understanding them.
On the whole, residents were keen to use less energy, and felt that they were generally good at saving energy in the home, engaging in measures such as turning off lights and boiling just enough water in the kettle.
But there are still misconceptions - for example, many people mistakenly believe that turning the thermostat up to a higher temperature than required heats the home more quickly. With heating accounting for nearly two-thirds of energy use, addressing this could be a huge win.
Other findings included:
Heating controls cause confusion with over one third reporting difficulty understanding them. This signals a clear need to de-mystify the single biggest use of energy in the home.
Click here to download the full report.
