A study conducted by Age UK has revealed that half of the pensioners it surveyed turn their heating down even when they were cold to save money on their fuel bills.
In a report published today, the charity found that approximately 2 million pensioners were so concerned about their rising energy bills they were going to bed early in an attempt to keep warm rather than put the heating on. A similar amount had moved into one room so they only needed to heat that room rather than the whole house. 
Age UK’s Mervyn Kohler, said that the report highlighted just how many of the country’s elderly were suffering from fuel pover ty.
“The figures are stark and show that people have been shaken rigid by the enormous rise in prices we saw in the second half of last year, and for individuals living on fairly straitened incomes, that hike in one of the two essential areas – the other being food – has really put the frighteners on our older population.”
A different study last year showed that 25% of households in England and Wales were in fuel poverty after large rises in energy bills and pay freezes. This figure had risen from 20% earlier in the year and proved to be embarrassing for the Government who had pledged to eliminate fuel poverty by 2016.
Age UK’s study was based on an ICM survey of 1,000 people aged 60 and over. It highlights that many of those affected by fuel poverty are vulnerable elderly people. The findings reveal that 90% of people questioned were worried about their energy bills going up and 43% admitted that they had turned down their heating even when they were cold.
Kohler warned that many elderly people were risking getting ill by turning down their heating over the colder months.
“People who are cutting back on the amount of fuel they are using are jeopardising their health. They are going to end up exacerbating respiratory illnesses; they are going to end up isolating themselves in their own homes, feeling miserable sitting in a cold house without anyone coming round to see them. Because the house is too cold they get depressed.
“In the end they are actually stoking up costs for one or another bit of our National Health Service as a result of starving themselves of fuel.”
The study also shows that many of the elderly have been reducing the amount they spend on food to cover their energy bills, with many feeling they had to choose between heating and eating.
