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The changing landscape of thermal experience and warmth in older people’s dwellings

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  • Tweed, Christopher
  • Humes, Nicholas
  • Zapata-Lancaster, Gabriela

Abstract

The UK's carbon dioxide reduction policy initiatives often treat environmental conditions in buildings as averaged values of air temperature that flatten spatial variations. This discounts the influence of varying thermal conditions on how people use buildings and the impact this may have on energy consumption. This paper explores the intersection between older people's thermal experience, spatial and temporal variations in thermal conditions in a dwelling and the influence this has on occupants' use of space. The paper reports on qualitative studies in homes with both conventional and newly installed low carbon heating systems. The results suggest that older people are sensitive to and adept at exploiting variations in the dynamic ‘landscape’ of warmth to achieve desired thermal preferences and that they modify their dwellings to improve the quality of the thermal environment. There is also some evidence of a ‘spatial rebound’ effect after energy upgrades, when occupants inhabit rooms they previously could not afford to heat. The nature of qualitative research precludes robust recommendations for policy. However, one important avenue to explore further appears to be that householders may be more strongly motivated by interventions offering improvements across a range of aspects rather than on energy savings alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Tweed, Christopher & Humes, Nicholas & Zapata-Lancaster, Gabriela, 2015. "The changing landscape of thermal experience and warmth in older people’s dwellings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 223-232.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:84:y:2015:i:c:p:223-232
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.03.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Burholt, Vanessa & Windle, Gill, 2006. "Keeping warm? Self-reported housing and home energy efficiency factors impacting on older people heating homes in North Wales," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1198-1208, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Day, Rosie, 2015. "Low carbon thermal technologies in an ageing society – What are the issues?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 250-256.
    2. Yuqing Zhang & Bin Li & Luca Caneparo & Qinglin Meng & Weihong Guo & Xiao Liu, 2023. "Physical Environment Study on Social Housing Stock in Italian Western Alps for Healthy and Sustainable Communities," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-27, July.

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