Fuel poverty homecare pilot: case study
A case study on a pilot project delivered by Home Energy Scotland which offers advice and support in the home to the most vulnerable fuel-poor households
HES Homecare has helped an 80-year-old man with health issues who lives in a traditional one bedroom stone cottage in a very rural location.
The electric storage heating in his home was over 30 years old and was not used because of the cost. The property was heated solely by an open fire. The householder was sleeping in the living room because the house did not get warm enough.
He had been assessed in 2015 for assistance from a previous Scottish Government scheme but his landlord had not provided consent to this. This time HES advisors referred him to Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) and recognised that he would benefit from additional support and hand holding throughout the customer journey from the HES Homecare Energy Carer. Through HES Homecare he was offered help with clearing the loft to prepare for new loft insulation being installed and kept in regular contact with the HES Homecare Energy Carer for support.
The property benefitted from loft insulation, UPVC double glazed doors and a LPG boiler and radiators. The HES Homecare Energy Carer visited the property whilst the installation was being completed to ensure that there were no problems. The householder had not mentioned previously that his shower was no longer useable following the heating installation and HES Homecare also made a referral to Care and Repair to install a new shower. After removing the storage heating the electricity is now a single rate tariff and the householder was referred for tariff support to ensure he was accessing the cheapest tariff.
Estimated savings with this package of improvements is £1025 per year. However, the "real life" benefit in this case study is that the householder can now control the heat in his home to achieve a comfortable temperature quickly using the central heating. The HES Homecare Energy Carer will continue to work with this householder to ensure efficient use of the central heating and adjustment of electricity payments to reflect the reduced consumption. The overall HES Homecare pilot scheme will be evaluated and will feed into the development of the advice and support provision required to effectively deliver Energy Efficient Scotland.
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