Wood pellets will cut fuel poverty

IN the chill days and long, wintry nights of January it’s worth noting two startling statistics: around 60,000 Irish households are estimated to live in ongoing fuel poverty and a further 160,000 experience occasional fuel poverty.

At this time of year people are conscious about heating their homes in the most effective and cheapest way possible. Fireside conversations with neighbours and callers inevitably turn to heating systems, with new-fangled fuel sources, such as wood pellets, being talked about increasingly.

Fuel poverty has been defined as the inability to heat a home to a safe and comfortable level because of low household income and poor, energy inefficient housing. Another factor is the need to spend more than 10% of household income on fuel to achieve an acceptable level of comfort.