Tackling fuel poverty - how can practitioners help their clients?
What advice can you give to clients?
The following are things you can actively do to enable people to help themselves out of fuel poverty:
Encourage them to claim if they can
Lots of people don’t think they are entitled to any benefits or either don’t like to claim or find it difficult to fill out the forms. Citizens Advice Bureaux can often help or point to others that can give support on claiming benefits.
Encourage them to seek energy advice
Even if they have central heating, tenants and householders will need advice about how best to use them and how to set temperature or timer controls. There are also some simple changes that can be made in the home that can save energy and money. Anyone can contact their local Energy Saving Scotland advice centre for free and independent energy efficiency advice and information on grant schemes on freephone 0800 512 012.
If your clients have access to the internet they can get advice on this issue from Shelter's Get advice website.
Handy hints
Here, too, are some handy hints to give your clients:
- Insulate their hot-water tank to reduce heating costs and keep their water hot for longer. If their hot-water tank has a thermostat, tell them to check that it is not set too high. 60°C (140°F) is usually hot enough for household use.
- Only switch hot water on for the hours when hot water is needed. It is more expensive to leave it on all day.
- Put up heavy curtains, or curtains with thermal linings, to help to keep the heat in, and close them as soon as it starts to go dark. If your client’s radiators are under their windows, tell them not to cover them with your curtains and to tuck curtains behind the radiators.
- Put up small shelves about 5 cm (2 inches) above radiators to push warm air towards the centre of the room.
- If they have central heating, set the room thermostat at a temperature which seems comfortable. The recommended temperature for a living room is 21°C (70°F). If a room feels too warm, don’t waste energy by opening windows - turn down the thermostat instead.
- Use low-energy lightbulbs in rooms where the lights are on for long periods of time. They last about 12 times longer than ordinary lightbulbs and use only a fifth of the electricity.
- If they have storage heaters, remind them to close the damper or output dial (sometimes called the boost) before they go to bed or if they go out during the day.
