The Hidden Costs of Hot Water in Social Housing
Fuel Poverty Awareness Day: Shedding Light on Energy Expenses
This Fuel Poverty Awareness Day we are highlighting an often-overlooked energy cost in social housing: hot water bills. At Mixergy, we are dedicated to developing technologies that save both money and energy for households, while also addressing the national need to combat fuel poverty. We support housing providers in offering high-quality and reliable hot water, all while reducing the hot water expenses for tenants.
The Hidden Costs of Hot Water
Hot water costs can be difficult to quantify accurately, making them a hidden expense. Unlike space heating, which can be estimated based on the size and insulation of a home, hot water costs depend on the number of occupants and their specific needs. Estimates suggest that hot water accounts for 10-25% of a household’s total energy consumption. This is also likely to increase as the energy demand from space heating reduces due to better insulation and modern heating solutions. For some, hot water bills can amount to hundreds of pounds each year, often with little awareness of the actual cost.
Traditional hot water cylinders are not designed with energy efficiency in mind. They heat the entire cylinder, regardless of the amount needed, resulting in energy wastage and increased costs.
The Risks Tenants Face with Hot Water
Many older hot water cylinders in social housing must comply with legionella cleansing cycle requirements, which involve heating the entire cylinder to a certain temperature to prevent bacteria buildup.
Since the cost-of-living crisis began, contractors have reported seeing tenants turn off their hot water cylinders to save money, inadvertently putting themselves at risk.
The energy crisis is seeing residents reduce their hot water temperatures to save money, which increases the risks of legionella bacteria build-up.
Danielle Bayliss, Operations Director at Legionella and Fire Safe Services
How to Keep Tenants Safe While Saving Them Money
We have developed smart hot water cylinders that only heat the amount of water needed. Our cylinders in the field are showing significant savings for residents:
- “The App itself is absolutely fantastic. It’s so easy for anybody to use. I can modify it to suit me, and it’s saving me a lot of money, about £19 a week. It has reduced my electricity bill by two-thirds.” Mike, Resident of Williams Angie Court
- “We’ve calculated that it will save about £500 a year. I’m better off; I can do more and spend more money on my grandchildren. It’s the best thing the council has ever done.” Dorothy Burrows, Resident
With automatic cleansing cycles designed to tackle bacteria buildup without disrupting tenants’ needs, both tenants and housing providers can rest assured that the cylinders will reach the right temperature for the right amount of time.
Adopting the Technology in Social Housing
We understand that new home-saving technologies for tenants can often be complex or fail to meet their needs for safe, reliable, and convenient hot water. That’s why our cylinders are as simple to install as an unvented system and require no specialist skills.
Once installed, tenants can use the hardwire gauge to heat only what they need, when they need it. For those who wish to use our App or have a time-of-use tariff like Economy 7, the cylinder can be integrated with their tariff settings to save even more.
Housing providers will have access to our dashboard, enabling them to monitor their entire cylinder fleet, detect issues remotely, switch to holiday mode, and understand the energy consumption of hot water in their housing stock.
This visibility provides a new understanding of hot water energy use, helping tenants save money and supporting providers in taking care of their tenants while reducing hot water bills.
From June 2024, the 474 Mixergy cylinders installed in Birmingham City Council properties are projected to deliver hot water savings of over £120,000 per year for residents, while reducing CO2 emissions by nearly 80 tonnes.
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