Pinpointing fuel poverty

Cardiff University researchers have developed a new tool which identifies households most in need of support to heat their homes.

The sprawling rows of terraced houses that dominate the streets of Port Talbot are a well-known sight, replicated in communities across Wales and many other parts of the UK.

Built in the last century, their current occupants can sometimes struggle with the costs of heating them.

In 2018, some 12% of homes in Wales were classed as being in fuel poverty - when a household is unable to adequately heat its home due to low-income, high-energy costs, and poor energy efficiency.

Fuel poverty can lead to high levels of ill-health, costly fuel bills and negatively impact climate change.

Targeted financial support for people living in those homes is needed – but on limited budgets, how could those most in need be found?

Confronting the challenge, a team from the University’s Welsh School of Architecture (WSA) led by Dr Simon Lannon, Dr Jo Patterson and Professor Phil Jones developed a unique mapping system to establish, for the first time, where targeted energy-saving measures, such as insulation retrofits, would deliver maximum reduction in waste energy usage.