Our most recent round of improvements to the Fuel Poverty Calculator means that users can now assess the fuel poverty status of a household according to the official definition of fuel poverty used in Scotland.

Developed by the Centre for Sustainable Energy over 20 years ago, the Fuel Poverty Calculator has been continually improved and updated over that time. The absence of Scotland was a significant gap which is now filled.

The Fuel Poverty Calculator allows users to input occupancy information, income, housing costs and energy bill details of a household to estimate its fuel poverty status.

“This is valuable information,” says CSE’s Head of Local & Community Empowerment Bridget Newbery, “because households who meet the fuel poverty definition are likely to qualify for financial support and benefits, and to be eligible for grants for energy efficiency home improvements.

“For this reason, the Fuel Poverty Calculator is used by local authorities, advice and welfare organisations and others to identify vulnerable households and provide them with support, for example through projects such as CSE’s SGN Safe and Warm Communities.”

Try it out …

The Fuel Poverty Calculator is a free Microsoft Excel tool and can be downloaded from this page, along with a brief user guide.