New Ipsos research for Barclays explores homeowners’ experiences making energy efficiency improvements to their homes

On behalf of Barclays, Ipsos has conducted an extensive online survey to understand the experiences associated with making home efficiency improvements.

The research aims to understand the attitudes, perceptions, and sources that those surveyed rely on for information and support regarding making energy-efficient improvements to the home. The research explores the challenges and experiences associated with a range of home efficiency improvement types, including low carbon heating, solar energy, insulation, and upgrading doors and windows.

The study revealed that many of those surveyed feel reluctance towards making home efficiency improvements: over half (55%) agree they ‘feel anxious about making energy efficiency improvements’ and a third (33%) agree that making home efficiency improvements ‘is not something I would do’.

Why is this? One hypothesis Barclay’s believe could be the case is that this is due in part to misconceptions around how much these modifications cost to make, and how long they take to install. There appears to be a disparity between what respondents estimate the cost to be, and the claimed actual cost of common energy efficiency-related works reported by respondents who made the same modifications to their home (within the last 2 years as we believe this more realistic for comparative purposes).

Respondents tended to overestimate the expenses associated with loft and pitch roof insulation and A rated double or triple glazing (single-glazing replacement). The largest discrepancy was found to be the perceived cost of loft and roof pitch insulation, which respondents believed was two and a half times more expensive than the reported average amount paid by homeowners surveyed who had already undertaken such works (£3,371 estimated cost on average vs a reported actual cost of £1,213 on average). Similarly, the cost of A-rated double/triple-glazed windows were overestimated by a third (33 per cent) in terms of cost (£8,166 estimated cost on average vs a reported actual cost of £6,125 on average).

Additionally, the research highlighted a discrepancy between what respondents perceived to be the installation time required, and the actual duration reported by respondents who had completed the works. For example, respondents significantly overestimated the installation time for A-rated double or triple-glazed windows by 22 per cent on average compared to the actual time reported by homeowners surveyed who had made these changes to their home (39.17 hours estimated vs 31.16 hours reported).

Detailed research methodology

This research was conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Barclays. Fieldwork took place between 21/04/23 and 18/05/23. A total of 2,997 interviews were completed among homeowners Barclays believe are more likely to be in the market for making energy efficient improvements to their home. Those interviewed were aged 18+ across the UK who chose to take part in the survey. All respondents own their property either outright or with a mortgage, and own a property built 10+ years ago. The survey was carried out among those thought to be more able to pay for energy efficient home improvements and excluded those who are currently unemployed or on Universal Credit/Jobseeker’s Allowance. Homeowners with properties already possessing an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of A or B were also excluded from the survey.
Data collection took place online across the United Kingdom.

Quota sampling was employed with weighting applied for an even distribution on gender and tenure (i.e., own their property outright or own with a mortgage).

Base sizes for homeowners surveyed who have installed the following types of retrofitting within the last 2 years: loft and roof pitch insulation n=104; A-rated double/triple-glazed windows n=120