Energy efficiency 'can sometimes make people use more'

20 July 2012

Posted by John King

People who are diligently making their homes more energy efficient should ensure they do not unwittingly waste gas, electricity and heating oil.

"What it means is as efficiency increases, the resource is actually used more," explained construction expert Ryan Notz,  adding that this is called the Jevons paradox..

For example, if a homeowner replaces all their light bulbs with energy-saving varieties, they may be tempted to leave the lights on more than they did before.

Alternatively, if good insulation has been fitted, they could keep the heating on and think it is worth doing because all the warmth is being kept in.

Avoiding this should help to keep electricity and home heating oil bills down.

This follows a recent poll by Age UK Enterprises that found 42 per cent of consumers still do not monitor their energy consumption, even though it could help them to show where resources are being wasted.

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