connecting with homeowners:making energy efficiency relevant

3

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

2

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

UK Pulse: consumer views on energy matters

Led by the Energy Saving Trust, the UK Pulse is a quarterly consumer tracker conducted by Ipsos MORI of consumer attitudes towards energy in the home.

We consider the findings of the UK Pulse alongside our other extensive consumer knowledge stretching across a whole spectrum of channels including: digital and social engagement, advice services we run on behalf of governments and data and insight we capture through, as one example, our domestic technology trials. This insight helps shape the advice we give, the context in which we give it and the way we engage consumers.

About the UK Pulse: connecting with homeowners

The context

For years, industry, governments, businesses and campaign groups have been advocating the benefits of energy efficiency in homes. A large part of these efforts has been focused on messages around saving money on energy bills. More often than not, marketing campaigns have taken a silo approach, for example, by selling the benefits of specific energy efficiency upgrades in isolation of other potentially relevant products, factors and life influencers.

The aim of the research

This research attempts to take a step back and asks: how does this all fit in with the way we lead our lives? If we focus on this as a starting theme, will it tell us something new? When we plan to start or grow a family, how does this impact on decisions about the home we live in? When we plan for retirement, to what extent are our homes part of the equation?

The big question is this: can we use this insight to make energy efficiency upgrades more relevant to people’s lives than before?

The survey

The Ipsos MORI survey of 2,022 homeowners; no renters were surveyed.

The terminology

Major home improvement = extension, loft conversion, new kitchen, new bathroom

General home improvement = new boiler, re-wiring, new plumbing, new windows, new doors, new floor, plastering, installing a water softener, roofing, combining rooms.

Decorating = one or more rooms

New consumer research looking at how to convince homeowners of the benefits of energy efficiency: when to engage, how to engage and what messages to use.

4 5

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Five key findings the research uncovered:

Conclusions

People going through life changing moments such as starting/growing a family, getting a new or higher paid job, or those expecting an elderly relative to move in are most likely to make a home improvement, big or small. Families with children living at home are more likely to improve their homes than families without children, or with children living away from home.

Higher social class homeowners with larger incomes are more likely to improve their home – particularly when it comes to major improvements such as installing a new kitchen or undertaking an extension or loft conversion.

Recommendation

Targeting those demographics of homeowners most likely to be making home improvements – and in turn home energy efficiency upgrades – could result in more refined consumer marketing campaigns.

1.Specific life moments more likely to trigger home improvements

Homeowners who are planning to carry out general improvements in the next 3 years

Proportion of homeowners who have improved their home

Curre

ntly

/ exp

ect t

o liv

e w

ith

elde

rly re

lativ

es (>

75)

Rece

ntly

star

ted

high

er p

aid

job

/ bee

n pr

omot

ed

Star

ting

new

job

soon

Plan

ning

on

star

ting

fam

ily /

havi

ng a

dditi

onal

child

ren

Plan

to re

tire

in n

ext 5

year

s

Do n

ot p

lan

to h

ave

mor

e ch

ildre

n

Have

adu

lt ch

ildre

n (>

19) w

ho

expe

ct to

mov

e ba

ck h

ome

69%

52%

63%

48%

61%

45%

31%

Exte

nsio

n

New

Kitc

hen

/ Bat

hroo

m

Gene

ral

Deco

rate

24%

11%

45%

34%

64%

51%

78%

70%

Had life change moment

No life change moment

6 7

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Conclusions

Nearly 90 per cent of homeowners who have completed a home improvement of some kind in the last three years have also made energy efficiency upgrades. When doing a major renovation such as an extension, 39 per cent of people would be willing to spend over £1,000 on additional improvements to make their home more energy efficient.

Recommendation

Engaging homeowners with energy efficient upgrades at the time of a home improvement is clearly a key opportunity. Life changing moments can often be a precursor to home improvements and energy efficiency upgrades; targeting homeowners going through a life-changing moment is likely to result in more effective campaigns.

Conclusions

Homeowners who have just moved into their home (in the last 12 months) are most likely to start the planning process for a major or general improvement. Homeowners are most likely to carry out improvements in the first five years of living in their home. The longer people have lived in a home, the less likely they are to be planning changes.

This shows that people made the improvements shortly after moving in, indicating that targeting new homeowners would be an effective strategy.

Homeowners are likely to carry out energy efficiency upgrades whilst carrying out home improvements in order to minimise the disruption to their home.

When asked about their likelihood to put up with disruption when installing a new boiler or a renewable technology, homeowners were likely to have the work done if tradespeople were carrying it out, but they were not likely to go ahead if it meant needing to redecorate.

Recommendation

We should be targeting people who have just moved into a new home, as that is when they start planning improvements which are then done within the next few years.

Targeting homeowners with energy efficiency products at the same time as planned home improvements with positive messages around ‘convenience’ would increase the likelihood of engagement. For example, if homeowners are having work done to their home they will likely understand that there may be damage to their home decoration; however once home improvements have been completed and homeowners then re-decorate, they are likely to be put off from energy efficiency upgrades if it means needing to re-decorate again in the future.

2.A home improvement results in energy efficiency upgrades

3.The optimum time to engage homeowners

Made improvements in the last 3 years

Decorate

General improvement

Kitchen / bathroom

Extension

73%80%

72%

18%23%

14%

39%50%

37%

57%64%

56%

Moved house in the last 3 years

Moved house 3-5 years ago

Last moved house more than 5 years ago

8 9

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Conclusions

Across all social groups, a desire for warmth scores highly, although there are some varying levels of desire.

Older groups prioritise warmth the most. Homeowners who are more likely to be at home during the day, such as retired people and part-time workers, are also more likely than other demographics to prioritise warmth. Homeowners on higher incomes prioritise “having a warm home when they need it to be” more than those on lower incomes. Younger groups tend to prioritise energy efficiency more than older people; this is perhaps because they are more interested than older people in having lower energy bills. Homeowners who have carried out energy efficiency improvements have greater desire for their home to be warm when they need it to be compared with homeowners who have not carried out energy efficiency upgrades.

When asked whether people would rather have a warmer home for the same heating bill versus keeping the home at the same temperature for a lower bill, we found a discrepancy between different income levels.

People on lower incomes are more likely to say that they would prefer to have a warmer home for the same bill, whilst higher income groups would prefer to keep their home at the same temperature but have lower bills. This implies that those on low incomes are currently under-heating their home, in order to keep bills manageable. They currently heat their home to the highest temperature affordable, but would heat it more if they could do so for no extra cost. By contrast, those on higher incomes currently heat their home to a comfortable temperature, so are not interested in making the home even warmer but see the merit in saving money.

When asked about household problems, homeowners across all demographics say they have issues with cold and draughts, second only to lack of storage space.

When it comes to annoyances in life, damp and mould are second only to unpleasant neighbours. Homeowners who are annoyed by damp are not more likely to have carried out energy efficiency measures in the last three years.

Recommendation

More nuanced messaging required

Messaging around promoting energy efficiency upgrades tends to be focused on money-saving. More nuanced and tailored messaging is required for specific demographics who might respond more favourably to messages, for example, around warmth. Homeowners are interested in saving money and keeping warm, as well as reducing universal problems such as damp, mould and cold. There is an opportunity for hierarchy of messaging depending on the audience.

Comfort is important

Homeowners do not necessarily see a connection between issues such as damp, mould and draughts and the role energy efficiency can play in helping to alleviate these problems. Messages focused around combating damp, mould and draughts could be highly effective alongside messages around warmth and saving money. In general, promoting energy efficiency in the broader context of ‘comfort’ could also prove highly effective.

Encouraging homeowners to invest more heavily in energy efficiency

In key finding two we concluded that “when doing a major renovation such as an extension, 39 per cent of people would be willing to spend over £1,000 on additional improvements to make their home more energy efficient”. The energy efficiency upgrades that homeowners tend to make, however, are much more common at the lower cost end. This begs the question: how can we encourage homeowners to invest more heavily? We suggest that communicating how energy efficiency can help alleviate problems around damp, mould and draughts could prove effective in encouraging the uptake of more expensive improvements.

4.Comfort and warmth selling points are key

Home problems

A lack of storage space

Cold draughts in some rooms

Rooms in my house that are hard to keep warm

A garden that takes too much work to look after

Lack of parking space outside my home

Damp or mould in one or more rooms

Neighbours who I do not get on with

It’s too far to walk to local amenities

The street/road where my home is situated is noisy

19%

15%

18%

27%

17%

16%

9%

9%

9%

10

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

Conclusions

Beyond building regulations, the majority of homeowners do not consult anyone for advice on energy efficiency before carrying out any major or general improvements to their homes. For those who do seek advice, builders or tradespersons are the most common first port-of-call.

Homeowners are, however, more likely to look for energy efficiency advice when getting an extension than when fitting a new kitchen/bathroom or doing a general improvement. This suggests that homeowners are more likely to think about energy efficiency upgrades when making large structural changes to their home, but might not consider it when just changing one room or doing a small improvement.

Homeowners least trust DIY retailers when seeking advice on energy efficiency upgrades, followed by home improvement magazines and builders or tradespersons. Architects and local authorities are fairly well-trusted to give energy efficiency advice.

Independent consumer advice organisations are the second most trusted, with the most trusted being a specific independent organisation that specialises in energy efficiency advice.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when searching for energy efficiency advice homeowners are most likely to simply go online.

Recommendation

Beyond the internet, architects and local authorities could be the most influential third-parties in amplifying the merits of energy efficiency upgrades.

Given the value that homeowners place on comfort and warmth and the universal problems they encounter such as damp, mould and draughts,

third-party advocates could play an important role in emphasising the benefits of the more expensive upgrades such as insulation, heating and renewables.

The best place to reach homeowners with advice on home energy efficiency upgrades is online. Companies who provide home energy efficiency upgrades to homeowners would be best placed to work with an independent organisation to verify claims made.

11

Energy Saving TrustUK:Pulse

5.Where homeowners go for advice

Trust in energy efficiency advice

A DI

Y re

taile

r

A fri

end

or fa

mily

mem

ber

A ho

me

impr

ovem

ent m

agaz

ine

A bu

ilder

/trad

espe

rson

An o

nlin

e fo

rum

abo

ut e

nergy

effi

cienc

y

Your

loca

l cou

ncil

An in

depe

nden

t org

anisa

tion

who

pr

ovid

e ad

vice

on e

nergy

effi

cienc

y

An a

rchi

tect

A sp

ecifi

c web

site

rela

ting

to en

ergy

effi

cienc

y

An in

depe

nden

t con

sum

er a

dvice

org

anisa

tion

83%

82%

80%

71%

70%

70%

60%

59%

58%

49%

CO351 © Energy Saving Trust 2016 marketing@est.org.uk

energysavingtrust.org.uk