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Households

Energy poverty

CONTEXT

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Currently, difficulties meeting the costs of housing are not only related to the payment of rent or a mortgage, but also to the payment of utility bills, leading in some cases to energy poverty.

Energy poverty occurs when a resident finds it difficult or impossible to maintain their home in suitable temperature conditions at a reasonable price. Moreover, it is considered that households that spend more than 10% of their income on their energy bills are susceptible to finding themselves in an energy poverty situation. In general, suitable temperature conditions are considered to be 18 ºC in winter and 25 ºC in summer.

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Climate change indicates that temperatures may become more extreme, both with regard to minimum temperatures, with extreme cold, and maximum temperatures, with heat waves, causing an energy demand increase for heating and cooling.

The growing price of energy, the reduction of family income and the low quality of buildings are the main aspects that cause energy poverty situations that pose a threat to physical and mental health. A cold home may lead to circulatory, respiratory and mental health problems. The most extreme consequence is death attributable to energy poverty.

Not having a home in suitable conditions may generate a sensation of anxiety that if sustained over time may result in psychological repercussions. Moreover, the accumulation of debt due to the non-payment of bills may cause anguish in people that could lead to chronic conditions like depression or high blood pressure.

According to the latest study by the Association of Environmental Sciences (ACA), published in 2018, in Spain there are 6.8 million people in an energy poverty situation, representing 15% of the population.

 

OBJECTIVE

  • Reduce the effects of energy poverty
  • Reduce the energy consumption of homes in or at the risk of an energy poverty situation.
  • Improve the condition of the homes of the most economically vulnerable by making repairs and installing measures to improve energy efficiency.

PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Proposals and recommendations for users (for efficient management)

  • Avoid phantom energy use (electricity consumption of devices permanently connected to the grid in standby mode, which continue to consume even though they are not in use). Installation of multi-socket adaptors to fully switch off devices and timer switches for electric heaters.
  • Cooling. Protect the home from solar radiation.
    • Protect all windows with blinds or awnings.
    • Paint the facades in light colours, given that they help reflect solar radiation.
    • Improve the thermal insulation of the facades, the roof and, in the case of ground floor homes, the floor.
    • Increase humidity in dry environments and create natural or forced ventilation to reduce the temperature by means of the “evaporative cooling” system (it consists of cooling exterior hot air by passing it through filters soaked in water by means of a fan into the interior, cooling the environment by 4 to 12 ºC).
    • Open the windows when the outside air is cooler than the inside air. Do not open the windows when the outside temperature is higher than 30 ºC.
    • Ensure that exterior cooling equipment is not in direct contact with solar radiation, so that its performance is not affected.
    • Darken the home during the hours of maximum sunlight.
    • Install fans.
  • Heating. Minimise the home’s energy demand
    • Improve the thermal insulation of the facades, roof and floors.
    • Improve the windows (both the frame and the glass): break the thermal bridge, use at least double glazing, insulate the blind box.
    • Apply low-cost measures: skylights, insulation film for windows and under doors.
    • Close the shutters and lower the blinds when the sun has gone down.
    • Ten minutes of ventilation is sufficient to ensure the home provides good health conditions.
    • Install a programmable thermostat to avoid unnecessary costs.
    • Install the heat source on the cold wall of the room.
    • Never cover the heat source (by installing shelves over it, etc.).
    • Try to avoid bar heaters, given that they are very energy inefficient.
  • Water and domestic hot water. Consume less water
    • Take showers instead of filling the bath. The temperature of the water is sufficient between 30 and 35 ºC.
    • Ensure that hot water pipes are correctly insulated.
    • Ensure that there are no leaks in the installation or dripping taps.
    • Install simple water-saving systems: tap aerators; toilets with a double flush cistern, etc.
    • Consider the installation of solar panels on the roof in conjunction with the other residents.
  • Lighting. Make good use of lighting in the home.
    • Spending most of the day in rooms with natural light allows you to save energy and has a positive effect on your mood and your general health.
    • Paint the interior walls of the home in light colours.
    • Replace incandescent light bulbs with LEDs (bearing the CE mark); they are more expensive but they last 50 times longer and save up to 80%. Analyse the characteristics provided on bulbs’ energy labels and chose the most efficient option in accordance with your needs.
    • Switch off lights in rooms when there is no-one in them.
  • Domestic appliances. Use them efficiently. Consult the measures to be taken to ensure the efficient use of domestic appliances in the document (in Catalan): http://www.ddgi.cat/web/recursos/document/4378/4520/Ciutadania_VI_Sessio_1_Gestio_energetica_i_factura_electrica.pdf.
    • reduce the cost of basic utility bills
      • adjust rates
      • apply good consumption habits


Proposals and recommendations for the administration

Addressing energy poverty requires intervention on different scales:

  • Raise awareness of the problem and the rights of the public in relation to access to basic utilities.
  • Avoid utility disconnections by implementing aid mechanisms to facilitate the payment of utility bills for cohabitation units that cannot pay them.
  • Apply energy-saving and energy-efficiency measures to reduce bills and consumption in the home.


Possible actions in the corresponding work lines are described below:

The awareness of rights and services:

  • Public awareness and empowerment in terms of energy saving, both with regard to the use of energy and the understanding of water, gas and electricity bills, in order to reduce energy bills and associated CO2 emissions.
  • Provision of aid and available services 
  • Dissemination of current legal guarantees.
  • Dissemination of the problems associated with the accumulation of debt due to the non-payment of utility bills (even though it has not been disconnected).
  • Awareness of the importance of maintaining installations in good condition, avoiding bad habits and implementing ethical consumption habits.

Support programmes to prevent energy poverty:

  • Creation of Energy Advice Points, mainly associated with housing offices, to provide advice, aid and interventions related to energy poverty.
    • Advice on the optimisation of contracted rates in relation to actual consumption.
    • Aid for the payment of utilities.
  • Work with utility companies to prevent disconnections. Rates should be adapted to actual consumption levels.

Energy-efficiency saving and improvement programmes:

  • Energy-efficiency knowledge programmes for all types of housing
  • Energy audits for vulnerable homes to facilitate the reduction of consumption by changing bad habits, changing rates or installing energy-saving systems.
  • Aid associated with the audits to improve the energy efficiency of homes.

REFERENCE EXPERIENCES

Information only available in Catalan

 

 

  • Auditories i intervenció als habitatges en situació de pobresa energètica. Diputació de Barcelona. Recurs que posa en marxa la Diputació de Barcelona per enfortir les respostes preventives i educatives del món local davant el creixement de les situacions de pobresa energètica entre la població de la demarcació de Barcelona. La finalitat és millorar l'eficiència energètica dels habitatges en situació de pobresa energètica, reduir les despeses de subministraments bàsics (electricitat, aigua i gas o altres combustibles) i millorar la qualitat de vida de les persones beneficiàries. 
  • Taula local d’habitatge i pobresa energètica – Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Espai de treball en el què es reuneixen els agents clau, tant del propi Ajuntament com del tercer sector social i altres administracions o organismes. Les finalitats principals de la Taula són posar en comú les necessitats i problemàtiques detectades pels actors socials del municipi, millorar la diagnosi, debatre i elaborar línies estratègiques de treball i generar propostes per trobar solucions integrals i efectives per garantir el dret a l’accés d’un habitatge digne. 
  • Servei d’Atenció a la pobresa energètica – Barcelona. L’Ajuntament de Barcelona ha creat 11 punts d’assessorament energètic, repartits per tots els districtes de la ciutat (i en la majoria dels casos vinculats a les Oficines de l’Habitatge) que ofereixen la informació, l’atenció i la intervenció necessàries perquè les persones puguin exercir els seus drets energètics i les companyies no els neguin l’accés als subministraments bàsics.
  • Programa d’estalvi i pobresa energètica – Diputació de Girona. El programa consisteix en donar eines i recursos als ajuntaments i els consells comarcals de la demarcació de Girona per impulsar actuacions directes per sensibilitzar la població sobre la despesa i l’eficiència energètica de les llars i actuar en casos de pobresa energètica a les llars més vulnerables. 
  • Aliança contra la pobresa energètica (APE), neix per pressionar i denunciar les administracions públiques i defensar els drets de les persones consumidores en front de les empreses subministradores d’energia i aigua. La seva actuació es basa en l’accés universal als serveis bàsics, l’aturada dels talls indiscriminats de subministraments, i l’assumpció, per part de les companyies dels costos de garantir els serveis bàsics a les llars vulnerables.

 

LEGISLATION

  • L’article 42.3 de l’Estatut de Catalunya obliga els poders públics a vetllar per la dignitat, la seguretat i la protecció integral de les persones, especialment de les més vulnerables. L’article 137 atribueix a la Generalitat la competència exclusiva en matèria de consum.
  • La llei vigent, 24/2015, de 29 de juliol, de mesures urgents per afrontar l’emergència en l’àmbit de l’habitatge i la pobresa energètica, estableix que prèvia a la suspensió del subministrament és necessari sol·licitar un informe a serveis socials sobre la situació de la unitat de convivència afectada.
  • Llei 3/2015, de l´11 de març, regula una sèrie de mesures fiscals, financeres i administratives (cànon social), així con les tarifes socials aplicades a cada municipi.
  • Reial Decret 897/2017, de 6 d´octubre, pel qual es regula la figura del consumidor vulnerable, el bo social i altres mesures de protecció per als consumidors domèstics d´energia elèctrica.
  • Reial Decret llei 7/2016, de 23 desembre, pel qual es regula el mecanisme de finançament del cost del bo social i altres mesures de protecció al consumidor vulnerable d´energia elèctrica.

STUDIES AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

OTHER LISTINGS OF THE GUIDE

  • Àmbit Habitatge Fitxa Intercanvis energètics no controlats
  • Àmbit Habitatge Fitxa Ventilació
  • Àmbit Habitatge Fitxa Il·luminació

More information about addressing the Public Health Service: entornurbasalut@diba.cat

Date of last update:
dv., 14 de maig 2021 13:31:30 +0000