Fuel poverty is when a household has to spend a large amount of their income on heating their home, to the point where their remaining income puts them below the poverty line. This means that they often struggle to afford other essentials, such as food and clothing.
Fuel poverty has become more of a problem with the current cost of living crisis, with the number of people in fuel poverty increasing in the past year, and is expected to rise even higher by 2024.
How is fuel poverty getting worse?
According to a 2022 government report, 13.4% of households or 3.26 million people in England were in fuel poverty. This is up from 13.1% or 3.16 million the previous year.
This problem is expected to get worse, with the number of those in fuel poverty expected to rise to 14.4% or 3.53 million in 2023. This can be explained by the rise in fuel prices, which is part of the current cost of living crisis.
Between 2021 and 2022, gas and electricity prices rose by 45% in real terms, with the average energy bill rising to £2,500 in 2022. This problem is exacerbated by homeowners not understanding how their homes could be made more energy efficient. People are also unaware of schemes that could help them avoid fuel poverty, such as ECO4.
If this surge in fuel poverty continues, it is likely that more households will be crippled financially.
How does ECO4 help with fuel poverty?
ECO4 is a government scheme that aims to help those on benefits make their homes more energy efficient, reducing their energy bills and stopping them from falling into fuel poverty. This is achieved by upgrading a home’s heating and insulation.
The heating upgrades offered by ECO4 include first-time central heating, air source heat pumps, solar panels and boiler upgrades.
The insulation upgrades offered by ECO4 include cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation, external wall insulation, loft insulation, room in roof insulation and pitched roof insulation.
The LA Flex scheme is also available as part of ECO4 and aims to help those who aren’t on any benefits but are still in danger of falling into fuel poverty.
This help is completely free and does not cost the homeowner a penny.
How EnergyHelp can assist
EnergyHelp is dedicated to helping you reduce your energy bills by using the ECO4 scheme. EnergyHelp will assist you every step of the way, from helping you discover if you qualify for additional support and helping you understand what you are entitled to.
An assessor will visit your house to help advise you on what upgrade is best for you.
After this, EnergyHelp will select the best installer for you from a panel of specialists and will continue to provide advice after the installation is complete.
EnergyHelp is different to other companies as we are solely focused on getting you the best deal possible, as we are not installers trying to promote our own services.
By doing this, you can avoid the risk of falling into fuel poverty and make your home more comfortable at the same time.
Do you qualify?
Please complete the form today to check if you qualify for the ECO4 scheme.
If you do, you will be entitled to a personal consultation to determine which ECO4 upgrades are best for you.
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