A fuel poor household is one that cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost. The most widely accepted definition of a fuel poor household is one which needs to spend more than 10% of its income on all fuel use to heat its home to an adequate standard of warmth. This is generally defined as 21°C in the living room and 18°C in other occupied rooms - the temperatures recommended by the World Health Organisation. A household that has to spend more than 20% of its income on fuel is regarded as being in severe fuel poverty.

The solution to fuel poverty is affordable warmth - the ability to achieve a temperature in the home which is adequate for health and comfort, within 10% of household income. Importantly the definition focuses on what people need to spend rather than what they actually spend on heating. This is because fuel poor households have to balance the need for fuel and other essentials, so often cannot afford to heat their homes properly.

Although the preconditions for fuel poverty - poor insulation and heating standard, under-occupancy, low household income and unaffordable energy prices, have always existed for the most disadvantaged households, it was not until the 1970s that fuel poverty was identified as a serious social problem.

Some additional factors contribute to fuel poverty. For example:-

• Not all households have access to a mains gas supply and will therefore be excluded from what is generally the most efficient method of space and water heating.
• Many households contain one or more individuals who, because of age, long term health conditions or disability require higher temperatures for health and comfort, compounded by spending more longer periods in the home than more active occupants.
• How fuel is paid for can be an issue, with large differences in charges between direct debit (lower charges) and prepayment meter use (higher chargers). As the price of fuels increase, more people move in to fuel poverty.

Fuel poverty is an issue affected by:-

• Household income
• Household characteristics (elderly, single parent etc)
• Housing standards(insulation, heating and ventilation)
• Occupancy issues (both occupancy levels and patterns)
• Energy price fluctuations and payment problems
• Location (rural/urban)