Two case studies to help us all understand how fuel poverty affects people. We created this presentation to encourage service providers, community organisations and residents to think about how we might be able to help local people who are experiencing fuel poverty.

1. Fuel Poverty
Case studies

2. Freda

3. Freda is an owner occupier and has no mortgage
on her home. She has lived in a 4 bed detached
house in Beaumont Park for nearly 40 years.

4. Her children got married and moved away
from Huddersfield, and since her husband
died 5 years ago she lives alone in the house.
Photo: Golden bond by abhishek_jacob

5. Her only income
is state pension
which is £107
per week.
She manages on
her income
through careful
budgeting, and is
very concerned to
pay her way and
not get into debt.
Photo: Sliced Dark Rye bread by avlxyz

6. The house has
gas central
heating but the
boiler is nearly
20 years old.
Photo: Old boiler by wikidave

7. Photo: Curtains by sk8geek
The house has little insulation and is draughty.

8. Photo: Tea light by 4nitsirk
Freda has been using candles and tea lights
to help keep the house warm upstairs.

9. Freda feels the cold more as her arthritis
means she cannot get out and about as much
as she used to, but she is worried about the
cost of heating.

10. She has always been with British
Gas, and they sent a letter saying that
the price of gas was increasing. She
pays quarterly when the bill arrives. She
is worried that her next bill will be larger
than usual and so she is trying not to
use the heating too much.

11. She turns the central heating on when
she feels cold, and turns it off again
when she has ‘taken the chill off’.
She uses a gas fire in the living room.

12. Asma & Paul

13. Asma and Paul live with their
2 daughters under 5 in a 3 bed
private rented house in Lindley.

14. Paul works full time and until recently they have managed
on his wages plus tax credits and local housing allowance.

15. With the changes to the welfare benefit system they
have seen a weekly drop in income of £30, which is
a significant amount of money for the family.
They have started to miss some bills. They are
£200 behind on their energy bills and have also
missed paying their TV license payment.
Photo: Banknotes by howardlake

16. They have gas central heating which they leave on all the time...
turning the thermostat up and
down when they get too warm or cold.

17. They enjoy
watching films
and playing
games. They
have a large
TV, a Wii and
a computer
with internet
access.
Photo: TV with iPod by revdancatt

18. Two
young
children
means
lots of
washing
gets
done...

19. Asma uses her
washer dryer to do
2 washes a day.

20. They know they
need to make
savings to make
up for the loss in
income, but are
not sure what to
do for the best.
Photo: Injured Piggy Bank by teegardin

21. The weather is getting colder
and they know the one thing
they want to do is keep the
house warm for their
children.
They don’t think they can
make any changes in the
home to save them money
on their fuel bills.
Photo: Crocodile mittens by dainec

22. Asma
& Paul
Freda

23. Image credits:
Golden bond by abhishek_jacob
Sliced Dark Rye bread by avlxyz
Old boiler by wikidave
Curtains by sk8geek
Tea light by 4nitsirk
Banknotes by howardlake
TV with iPod by revdancatt
Injured Piggy Bank by teegardin
Crocodile mittens by dainec
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic