Recent research shows that pressure from increased energy bills has led consumers to take green actions. ZCA has analysed the potential household carbon reductions of such consumer actions.

ZCA analysis of energy-saving actions in the UK shows that insulation, heat pumps, and rooftop solar represent a carbon reduction more than six times higher than that which can be achieved by easier but more minor green actions such as shorter showers and lower boiler temperatures

Published

April 25, 2023

Oscar Pusey

Research Analyst

Trending

Consumer behaviour shifts as the energy price crisis hits the UK

Nine out of ten billpayers made adjustments to lower their energy use between October 2022 and February 2023, according to recent research from KPMG in the UK as part of its Consumer Pulse survey. Nevertheless, despite their efforts to make savings, more than two-thirds of households surveyed (69%) reported that their energy costs were still more than anticipated during that period. The UK Government set a cap on energy prices in October 2022 of £2,500 for the typical household and offered at least £400 in further support payments. Along with providing financial assistance, the government also started a public relations campaign to encourage people to use less energy in their homes. Over half (56%) of billpayers said they made improvements to their homes, and the same number (56%) bought energy-efficient devices to keep energy costs down over the winter. Most people chose to turn off lights (53%) even though it only had an estimated annual save of £25.[i] When comparing the most common actions respondents claimed they were taking, just about a fifth of families had implemented the three most cost-effective strategies, which could each save about £100 annually: limiting hot showers (19%), draught-proofing (21%), and lowering boiler flow temperatures (22%).[ii]

Source: KPMG

ZCA analysis of potential carbon reductions

Households in the UK have an average carbon footprint of 8.1 tonnes of CO₂e, according to the most recent available data from the CCC.[iii] This data is, however, from 2014 and, as such, is likely to be out of date. Applying the 2% reduction in overall CO₂e emissions seen in the UK between 2014 and the most recent measure of 2021 emissions, this falls to an estimated 7.9 tonnes of CO₂e per household. A breakdown of where these emissions come from is shown below. This shows that heating and electricity combined make up half of the overall emissions of an average household.

Source: CCC

The KPMG Consumer Pulse survey showed that the three highest potential savings for consumers are amongst the five least undertaken activities. The following ZCA analysis calculates the potential carbon saving per household in the UK where each of these actions undertaken.

The total savings from the top three cost-saving activities (draft proofing, four-minute showers and lowering boiler flow temperature) over one year is in total £320. Broken down, this is a saving of £100 from lowering boiler flow temperature[iv], a saving of £125 for draft proofing and a saving of £95 for four-minute showers.[v] This £320 saving represents a saving of 840Kwh per year per household that undertakes the activity based on a KwH price of 38.1p.[vi]

According to Bulb’s carbon tracker, the UK’s energy mix means that each KwH of energy used represents 0.193 kg of CO₂e.[vii] This means that by reducing energy use by 840KwH, an average household could reduce its carbon footprint by 162 kg of CO₂e per year.

This reduction may appear relatively modest at an individual level, with the annual household average of 7.9 tonnes of CO₂e. representing a 2% reduction.[viii] However, these findings show that whilst making small changes in the home is a worthy pursuit, it will not provide the scale of carbon reductions needed to ensure that overall net zero targets can be met. With around 40% of the UK’s 505 million tonnes of CO₂e emissions coming from households[ix], it is vital that we think bigger.

With this in mind, it is worth considering what the UK government consider to be the highest potential energy-saving home improvements, which are shown in the table below.[x] These improvements can incur a substantial personal expense and, as such, could not be considered a viable option for most UK households, especially whilst the cost of living crisis continues to bite and some households are in multi-story buildings.

Source: Data from UK Gov[xi]

The average total cash saving for each consumer household per year could be £1969 if all the above were implemented and assuming that these were not in place already. Using the same method (all savings are electricity based) as above, this translates to a saving of almost 1 tonne of CO₂e per year per household. This carbon saving is six times higher than that, which can be achieved by behaviour changes such as switching off the lights and taking shorter showers.

This only serves to highlight how significant investment in heat pumps and rooftop solar, along with insulation retrofits in the UK, would be a significant step in smoothing the UK’s path to net zero. To unlock this investment, new priority must be given to energy efficiency upgrades in the UK, as was pointed out by research into current underspends on such programmes.