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Faced with soaring electricity prices, energy poverty, which affects thousands of households in Europe, was brought to light during last autumn and winter. But the cold season is not the only time of year when this phenomenon occurs. According to a new report from the Abbé Pierre Foundation, it is now just as present during the summer.
“In summer, energy colanders turn into real kettles. However, energy poverty is still largely associated with the feeling of cold in one’s home, and too little with the uninhabitability linked to heat peaks”underlines the Abbé Pierre Foundation, which publishes a report this Monday, June 26 to draw attention to fuel poverty in summer. “More and more people are exposed to energy poverty in summer, a phenomenon accentuated by climate change and increasingly frequent extreme heat waves, with sometimes dramatic effects on health”, hammers the Foundation. If no precise figures allow to estimate the number of people concerned, the report of the Abbé Pierre Foundation is based on several surveys carried out in recent years to show that the French are suffering more and more from the heat.
In June 2022, a period which corresponds to the earliest heat wave in France since 1947 according to Meteo France59% of French men and women explained that they had suffered from heat in their home for at least 24 hours (i.e. 8 points more than in 2020 according to the energy-info barometer). If nine out of ten people questioned explain it by the heat wave, 19% attribute the discomfort linked to the heat to poor insulation of their accommodation and poor ventilation (9%). In another pollproduced by Ifop for the Actibaie group, 30% of French men and women report suffering more and more often from excessively high temperatures.
A public health issue
According to an OpinionWay survey carried out in 2021 for France Énergie, the people most affected by energy poverty are young people (54% among 18-24 year olds) and the elderly, who are the most vulnerable to heat waves. “The phenomenon of summer energy poverty is exacerbated by the multiplication of heat waves, and will continue to worsen with climate change, urbanization and the aging of the population”, underlines the report. Knowing that the occurrence of heat waves is likely to double in frequency and intensity by 2050, the phenomenon therefore becomes as worrying as the fuel poverty associated with winter, with health, social, economic and environmental consequences” , confirms the report.
According to the Ifop poll quoted above, 88% of French people consider that it is “Urgent to find a solution to reduce the temperature in housing”. The report recommends several, starting with the thermal insulation of buildings. The most effective measures consist of insulating the roof, as well as coating and painting the walls (ideally from the outside) with materials that both limit heat loss in winter and reduce heat gain. summer. The installation of solar protection in the rooms most exposed to light can also help to lower the mercury by a few degrees: horizontal or vertical sunshades integrated into the architecture of the building, adjustable and reflective sunshades, awnings, shutters, blinds… “Sufficiently deep balconies can also act as sunscreens and accommodate vegetation. These balconies can be transformed into a winter garden, and thus introduce a temperate buffer zone into the dwelling, which is very effective in terms of thermal comfort”explains the Foundation.