We are in the middle of winter and the forecasts are alarming since a winter full of rain, snow, frost and wind is predicted. This fact makes problems such as the increase in the cost of gas and electricity, old buildings poorly insulated for vulnerable families, the lack of aid for energy efficiency and health and safety problems reappear in the social debate. derived from energy poverty. This last term encompasses a major problem that our country has not addressed for years: energy poverty. A concept that encompasses many variables and that can affect more families than we imagine.
In this article we would like to comment on this concept in order to fully understand what energy poverty is, how it can be reduced and finally, the main aids for energy efficiency and measures of the that we can benefit so as not to suffer from energy poverty in our home.
What does energy poverty mean?
To understand it, energy poverty is the inability of a family to pay for basic domestic energy or gas services on their own means. In other words, a family that is considered energy poor is because it cannot afford all the material and economic costs to keep its house in healthy climatic and environmental conditions.
To understand why energy poverty is a problem in our country, we would like to cite some data released by the Red Cross in your article:
- 9 out of 100 people are far from keeping their homes at the temperature recommended by the WHO in winter, which is between 18 and 22 degrees. And 25 in summer.
- The generic profile of energy poverty is: Adult woman with dependents under 16 years of age.
- Andalusia is the Autonomous Community with the highest rate of energy poverty.
- The Spanish household bill has increased by 70% in the last year.
All these data show us that there are familiar situations in which reaching all the services becomes tremendously complicated. Many of these families have to face monthly cruel decisions such as: food or heating; shower or do laundry; buy school supplies or heat the rooms; etc. Confronting these dilemmas on a monthly basis is energy poverty.
What causes energy poverty?
The main causes of energy poverty are: the lack of a good household economy that allows access to the necessary energy services and living in a house with old and deficient infrastructures that prevent them from have good insulation. These two causes are decisive for a family easily falling into energy poverty.
However, whenever we talk about social problems such as energy poverty, it is fair to understand that in the life of a person thousands of factors always come into play that can lead to the benefit or harm of our life in society. And in this case we also have to remember that eradicating a situation of energy poverty is not as simple as solving the economic problem and the housing problem. And it is that, around these cases, we find a large number of social, climatic, cultural, educational, economic and family factors that enter into this equation.
How can energy poverty be reduced?
Talking about the solution to this problem is also talking about many factors. As we mentioned earlier, the causes are diverse and so are the solutions. However, we can distinguish structures in which we can focus the resolution or mitigation of this problem:
1. At a private level helping relatives, neighbors, associations or NGOs
At a particular level we can find two situations. First of all, if you are suffering from energy poverty in your home, you can turn to associations, non-profit organizations or government social services to try to find solutions and support for your particular situation. Also, you will be interested in reading this article in which we talk about 'Cheap ways to heat your home', an article in which we give you some practical advice and that you can implement in your home to improve insulation, maintain a good temperature and ensure that your family spends as much time as possible in good weather conditions.
Secondly, if you don't have this problem at home but are concerned about the issue, you can always start with those closest to you such as family, friends or neighbors and check what their needs and see if you can do something for them. If your entire network does not need help, you can collaborate with associations or non-governmental organizations that help those most in need.
2. At the state level there are aids focused on this problem
On the other hand, and obviously the legitimate way to address this problem, there are measures from the Government. Among the political measures we can distinguish two types of aid. On the one hand, there are direct aid aimed at solving an existing problem in vulnerable households, such as social bonds, thermal bonds or social services (we will talk about this later) . And on the other hand, we can find aid for energy efficiency that are indirect measures, designed to prevent situations of energy poverty from occurring in the future. The latter are focused on families having household appliances and devices that help them be more efficient and spend less money on their services:
National Strategy against energy poverty 2019 - 2024
Previously we talked about the direct aid that exists to alleviate energy poverty. In other words, urgent financial aid that the most vulnerable families must receive so that they can acclimatize their home properly. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge publish the data related to energy poverty every year and in its last update corresponding to the year 2021, it is shown that one of the factors that has worsened the most in recent years has been that of households that are not able to maintain an adequate temperature in the home in winter, going from 9.1% in 2018 to 14.3% in 2021.
In the framework of this strategy we find some aid such as:
Electric social bonus
This is a discount on the electricity bill that can range from 25% to 50% in the most vulnerable cases. One of the main conditions is that you have contracted the voluntary price for small consumers (PVPC). In addition, you will have to enter one of the family and income circumstances that are established as vulnerable and that you can find on the official aid page.
Thermal social bond
This aid is focused on the most vulnerable households that have difficulty paying for thermal services such as heating, hot water or cooking. This aid is usually given in addition to the electric social bonus. You can find out about this and other aid by calling the Administration phone number 060.
PREE Program
This aid is granted to the Autonomous Communities so that they rehabilitate buildings and houses of vulnerable families with an energy efficiency approach.
Social Services
For more specific cases that do not fall within the general aid canons, there is always the possibility of contacting Social Services, a state aid program that will guide and accompany you in your most vital needs.
BLUETTI measures against energy poverty
At BLUETTI we have always kept our objective clear and very much in mind: to bring self-consumption electrical products closer to Spanish homes that are efficient and at a good price. Within this objective we have undertaken specific actions such as updating and activating offers, raffles, discounts, payment plans, varied products in sizes and prices, customer service, tips and updated articles to better use the products, etc
All these actions are done so that anyone interested in starting to save on their electricity bills can find simple and cheap alternatives.
In addition to all this, at BLUETTI we currently have two programs active that provide our customers with access to more and better products with which to feed their trips in motorhome or installing a power system in your home:
BLUETTI Affiliate Program
Affiliate programs are the order of the day, these are established so that anyone can be a commercial for a brand and earn commissions. In this case, from BLUETTI we offer an affiliate program with which you can share and promote the products on your blog, Youtube channel, Telegram channel, social networks or any other platform where you can share a link.
This link is the absolute key to this program, because anyone who makes a purchase through your link, you will be rewarded with a percentage (5%) of the cost. In addition, just for belonging to the program, you can have special discounts and coupons. So if you want more information, visit through this web page.
BLUETTI heroes 2023 program
This second program is aimed at customers who have any of the BLUETTI products. The idea is that each person can share their own story about how BLUETTI has changed or influenced their products on a day-to-day basis. So if you also have a story to tell, don't hesitate and sign up because if your profile is selected, you can take a BLUETTI product worth 1. €000 among other advantages.
You can find more information and register here.
