Determinants of winter indoor temperatures in low income households in England

Abstract

The objective of this study is to quantify the extent to which variation in heating season indoor temperatures is explained by dwelling and household characteristics and increased by energy efficiency improvements in low income households. A survey of dwellings in the Warm Front home energy efficiency scheme was carried out in five urban areas of England. Half-hourly living room and main bedroom temperatures were recorded for 2–4 weeks over two winters. For each dwelling, regression of indoor on outdoor temperature was used to obtain estimates of daytime living room and night time bedroom temperatures under standardized conditions (outdoor temperature of 5 °C). The results indicate that the median standardized daytime living room temperature was 19.1 °C and the median standardized night time bedroom temperature 17.1 °C. Temperatures were influenced by property characteristics, including its age, construction and thermal efficiency and also by the household number of people and the age of the head of household. Dwellings that received both heating and insulation measures through the Warm Front scheme had daytime living room temperatures 1.6 °C higher than pre-intervention dwellings, night time bedroom temperatures were 2.8 °C higher. Warm Front energy efficiency improvements lead to substantial improvements of both living room and bedroom temperatures which are likely to have benefits in terms of thermal comfort and well-being.