Modern high efficiency wood burning stoves use less energy to deliver more heat, according to Edward Henry. If multiplied across multiple units of social housing, there is the potential for these savings to be magnified and make a significant contribution to CO₂ reduction.
In order to address climate change and our energy future, the Government has targeted by 2020 a reduction of 20 per cent in CO₂ emissions, 15 per cent of our energy mix being made up from renewables (up from just 3 per cent today) and the heating to be met from renewable sources to grow from 1 to 12 per cent.

However, in May this year, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) confirmed that it would contribute savings of £85 m to the cuts being shared across Whitehall, cutting low carbon technology spending by £34 m. In addition, the social housing budget for England will be halved in the current spending review.

So, with less public money available for the infrastructure to provide our future energy needs, the shortfall will be made up to some extent through increased annual household energy bills, possibly up to as much as £5,000 by 2020, according to uSwitch. Alongside Government cuts, their 'Big Society' Plan proposes to empower communities, aiming to utilise people power to ensure public services continue to be provided.

Rising fuel bills

As gas central heating is the most widely-used way to heat houses in the UK, rising fuel bills have already become a reality in the past few years. Millions of households found during last year's exceptionally cold winter that they were struggling to balance consuming less energy with staying warm and trying to minimise their heating costs.

Some of those least able to pay the increased energy bills are those in social or housing association accommodation, yet the social housing budget in England is also to be halved. Many in social housing rely on their landlord to replace old heating appliances with modern fuel-efficient systems, but this also presents one of the greatest opportunities for savings through economies of scale, if applied across multiple dwellings.

Upgrading from an old or open fire to a high efficiency wood burning stove can mean using up to 80% less fuel, making them much cheaper to run. They also deliver 56 per cent more heat - an enclosed fire in a stove burns at up to 600°C, compared to just 270°C with an open fire. Unlike a stove, when an open fire is not lit, it may also draw heat from the room up the chimney, so a stove saves you money, even when it is not alight! It also follows that less CO₂ will be emitted as less fuel needs to be burned to generate the same heat, resulting in lowered CO₂ emissions of 80 per cent.

These appliances are tested, proven, available now and not dependent on government funding for their development. An individual room heater such as a modern wood burning stove can make a significant contribution to efficient and economical home heating. They can be particularly effective when you don't want to turn on the whole central heating system and only heat, or boost the heat, in the room you spend the most time in (such as the lounge).

There are approximately 20.5 million residential dwellings in England and nearly 20 per cent of these are classified as social housing. So, in the face of spending cuts, upgrading to modern wood burning stoves could help residents in social housing to use less energy and to soften the impact of rising fuel bills. Taken together, this sector also offers an opportunity to magnify savings in fuel usage across multiple housing units and make a greater contribution in far less time towards CO₂ reduction targets than individual measures in private accommodation can.

New build social housing in the UK also has a minimum environmental and energy efficiency standard, set out by the Sustainability Codes of Assessment Body in November 2009. This means there is an opportunity to either upgrade old, open heating appliances in existing housing stock or to install the latest high efficiency heating appliances into new builds.

Therefore, as modern wood burning stoves can provide more heat for less fuel, collectively there is an opportunity to save far more than the Government's 20 per cent 2020 target, by magnifying savings across multiple units of social housing stock.

With less government money available to invest in infrastructure and the prospect of future energy bill increases, 'Big Society' will surely involve groups of people working together to reduce the cost of their fuel.

To some extent, this can already be seen at a grass roots level. Whole communities are already bulk buying solid fuel or even their own woodland in order to preserve their source of energy. Private companies are already offering to fit renewable technology into properties in the rental sector, offering lower bills in exchange for a cut of the profits from feed-in tariffs.

Negotiating lower group tariff

Perhaps lower usage could even see housing associations negotiate a lower group tariff with the energy companies and keep individual energy bills lower?

If housing associations could collectively help their residents to use less energy en masse, then together they could make a significant impact through economies of scale and a magnified collective impact across multiple units of housing stock. This could make everyone a winner though reducing the amount of energy they use and therefore the amount of CO₂ they generate and helping them to stay warm in style, affordably?