Scottish House Condition Survey: 2022 Key Findings

4 Energy Perceptions

Key Points

• 16% of households found that their heating keeps them warm in winter only sometimes and 5% find it never keeps them warm.
• 11% of households reported that their homes were difficult to heat because they cannot afford to heat them, an increase of 7 percentage points from 2019.
• Fuel poor households and extreme fuel poor households are more likely to have difficulties staying warm in winter and to report affordability problems; 26% of fuel poor and 29% of extreme fuel poor say that their heating keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” or “never”, compared to 20% of non-fuel poor households.
• 16% of fuel poor and 16% of extreme fuel poor households report that they cannot afford to heat their home, higher than the 9% of non-fuel poor households.
• 71% of householders stated they monitor their energy use “very” or “fairly closely”. 46% of all households report owning an energy monitoring device. Both of which are an increase from 2019, (57% and 35% respectively).
• Conversely, both fuel poor (42%) and extreme fuel poor (38%) households were less likely to own a monitoring device compared to non-fuel poor (47%) households. 

4.1 Heating Satisfaction

Respondents’ views on their ability to keep warm in the winter and why this may be difficult is a useful context for understanding statistics on fuel poverty and energy efficiency in the home.

In 2022, 77% of householders reported that they were always able to stay warm at home during the winter (Figure 4.1),a decrease of 5 percentage points compared to 2019 (81%). 16% said that their heating keeps them warm only sometimes, and 5% report that their heating never keep them warm in winter.

77% of households reported that their heating always keeps them warm in winter

Figure 4.1: Staying Warm in Winter, 2022 

Data Source: Table EP1 in Energy Perceptions Tables

Notes: [note 22]

As shown in Table 4.1, of those reporting that their heating keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” or “never”, 26% report this to be “a serious problem”, 50% “a bit of a problem”, while 23% said it was “not very much” or “not a problem”.

50% of households whose heating does not always keep them warm say this is “a bit of a problem”

Notes: [note 22]

Figure 4.2 shows how respondents’ views on how well their heating keep them warm in winter varies depending on household type, tenure and the primary heating fuel they use.

Families and Other households were more likely than older households to report that their heating doesn’t always keep them warm in the winter; 27% for families, and 23% for other households compared to 18% for older households.

Social and private renters were more likely to report that their heating does not always keep them warm compared to owner occupiers; 27% and 26%, for social and private renters respectively, compared to 19% for owner occupiers. For social sector tenants this contrasts with the relatively better energy efficiency of the dwellings they occupy compared to the housing stock overall (as shown in Figure 2.9).

Households with electric heating were also more likely to report that their heating does not always keep them warm in the winter (37%) when compared to households heated with gas (19%).

Tenants in Socially rented properties are more likely to say their heating keeps them warm “only sometimes” compared to owner occupiers.

Figure 4.2: “Does Your Heating Keep You Warm Enough in the Winter?” by Household Type, Tenure and Primary Heating Fuel; SHCS 2022

Data Source: Table EP3 in ‘SHCS 2022- Chapter 04 Energy Perceptions- tables and figures’

Notes: [note 22]

The proportion of households reporting that their heating does not always keep them warm has significantly increased between 2019 and 2022.

Figure 4.3 “Does your heating keep you warm enough in the winter”? Proportion only “sometimes or “never” 2004-2019, 2022

Data Source: Table EP9 in in ‘SHCS 2022- Chapter 04 Energy Perceptions- tables and figures’

Notes: [note 22]

Figure 4.3 shows how the proportion of householders reporting that their heating does not always keep them warm enough has changed over time, allowing for the margin of error. As shown in figure 4.3 the proportion of households reporting that their heating does not always keep them warm has significantly increased between 2019 and 2022. 

The reasons why people found their homes difficult to heat in 2022 are shown in Table 4.2. 59% of all households did not report any problems heating their homes. Private rented (53%) and social sector tenants (43%) were more likely than owner occupiers (37%) to report difficulties in 2022.

The most common reasons relate to poor energy performance of the dwellings: draughts (16%) and poor or inadequate heating systems (13%), were the most common, followed by poor insulation (12%).

11% of householders considered it unaffordable to achieve the indoor temperatures they want, an increase from 4% in 2019. This likely reflects the increase in fuel prices that occurred in 2022 (Figure 3.3). This is higher among private and social renters (18% and 16% respectively) compared to owner occupiers (8%).  

59% of all households did not report any problems heating their homes

Notes: [note 22]

Table 4.3 shows how fuel poor and non-fuel poor households compared in their views on winter heating and heating affordability in 2022, while Table 4.4 shows householders’ views on how much of a problem it is if their heating does not keep them warm in winter.

Fuel poor and extreme fuel poor households[1] are more likely to report that their heating keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” or “never”, 26% and 29%, respectively, compared to 20% of non-fuel poor households (Table 4.3). For those households who replied “only sometimes” or “never” 88% of fuel poor households and 88% of extreme fuel poor households this is “a serious” or “a bit of a problem”, higher than 69% for households who are not fuel poor (Table 4.4).

Fuel poor and extreme fuel poor households are also more likely to report affordability problems. When asked about the reasons why they find it difficult to keep their home warm, 16% of both fuel poor households and extreme fuel poor households say “cannot afford to heat my home”, compared to 9% of non-fuel poor households (see table EP8 in ‘Energy Perceptions’ tables).

Fuel poor and extreme fuel poor households are more likely to report that their heating keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” or “never”

Notes: [note 22]

Fuel poor and extreme fuel poor households are more likely to report that their heating not keeping them warm in winter is a problem

For a full breakdown of these stats see Tables EP6 and EP7 in ‘SHCS 2022- Chapter 04 Energy Perceptions- tables and figures’

Notes: [note 22]

4.2 Monitoring Energy Use

The Scottish Household Survey asks respondents to what extent they monitor their energy use and whether or not they have energy monitoring devices.

As shown in Table 4.5, the proportion of households that do not monitor their energy use at all was 12%, with a further 16% stating they do not monitor very closely.

Conversely, the proportion of those who report monitoring their energy use “fairly” or “very closely” was 71%, an increase of 15 percentage points since 2019.

46% of households reported having energy monitoring devices an increase of 11 percentage points since 2019. See Table EP10 and EP14 in ‘SHCS 2022- Chapter 04 Energy Perceptions- tables and figures’ accompanying this report as a supporting document.

71% of households monitor their energy use “very” or “fairly” closely

Notes: [note 11] [note 22]

Table 4.6 shows that fuel poor (71%), extreme fuel poor (71%) and non-fuel poor (71%) households have similar rates of monitoring their energy use “very” or “fairly closely”. However, both fuel poor households (42%) and extreme fuel poor (38%) households were less likely to have a monitoring device than non-fuel poor (47%) (see Table EP13 in ‘SHCS 2022- Chapter 04 Energy Perceptions- tables and figures’).

A similar proportion of Fuel poor and non fuel poor households monitor their energy “very” or fairly” closely