How energy use by UK households has risen 18% in 40 years

More heating and appliances have driven up our household consumption of electricity and gas by 18% between 1970 and 2009, official figures show
Domestic energy use : Gas burns on a hob of a domestic oven
While energy use from cooking at home has gone down slightly since 1970, overall household energy use has risen by nearly a fifth. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Despite greener new build homes, and successive attempts by governments to make people insulate their households and turn down the thermometer, energy use by households has risen by nearly a fifth in the past 40 years. Domestic energy use is up from 37m tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) in 1970 to 44 mtoe in 2009, an increase of 18%.

Population growth and demographics are part of the story. Energy use per household has actually gone down slightly, while energy use per person has gone up, partly because of the rise in one-person households over the last few decades.

Another part of the cause, as the table below shows, is split evenly between our increased used of space heating and our increased appetite and use of appliances and lighting.

In 1970, few UK homes would have had a dishwasher and the array of computing and communications gadgets we use today, while the single pendant bulb in a room of old has, in many households, become a rack or set of recessed halogen spotlights. People also warmed their homes to a lower temperature 40 years ago - 14C in 1971 to 17C in 2008.

Interesting, the briefing from the Office of National Statistics accompanying this data notes that the overall rise comes despite a 32.7% rise in the number of households with loft insulation between 1976 and 2008, and double glazing up 31.2% between 1976 and 2007.

The government's flagship environment policy, the "green deal" to improve the energy efficiency of UK households, has never looked more necessary.

Data summary

Domestic energy consumption by end use 1970 to 2008

Click heading to sort. Download this data. Million tonnes of oil equivalent
Year
Space heating
Water
Cooking
Lighting and appliances
Total

Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change - secondary analysis of data from the Building Research Establishment
1970 22.1 9.9 2.2 2.7 36.9
1971 20.8 9.8 2.2 2.8 35.6
1972 21.1 10.0 2.2 3.0 36.3
1973 22.0 10.2 2.2 3.2 37.6
1974 22.3 10.2 2.1 3.4 38.0
1975 21.3 10.1 2.1 3.5 37.1
1976 20.7 10.2 2.1 3.7 36.6
1977 22.0 10.1 2.1 3.8 37.9
1978 22.7 10.0 2.1 3.9 38.7
1979 25.3 10.2 2.0 4.0 41.6
1980 23.8 10.0 2.0 4.1 39.8
1981 23.6 9.8 2.0 4.2 39.7
1982 23.2 9.7 1.9 4.4 39.2
1983 23.0 9.7 1.9 4.5 39.0
1984 21.8 9.6 1.8 4.7 37.9
1985 25.7 9.7 1.8 4.9 42.1
1986 26.9 10.0 1.7 5.0 43.7
1987 26.5 10.1 1.7 5.2 43.5
1988 25.2 10.2 1.6 5.3 42.4
1989 22.9 10.4 1.6 5.4 40.3
1990 23.7 10.1 1.5 5.5 40.8
1991 27.5 10.3 1.5 5.5 44.8
1992 26.6 10.4 1.4 5.6 44.1
1993 27.9 10.5 1.4 5.7 45.5
1994 26.4 10.4 1.4 5.8 43.9
1995 25.1 10.4 1.4 5.8 42.7
1996 30.4 10.5 1.4 5.9 48.1
1997 26.9 10.6 1.3 5.9 44.8
1998 28.2 10.6 1.3 6.0 46.1
1999 28.2 10.6 1.3 6.1 46.1
2000 28.7 10.7 1.3 6.1 46.9
2001 29.8 10.9 1.3 6.2 48.2
2002 28.5 10.9 1.3 6.2 47.0
2003 29.0 11.0 1.3 6.3 47.7
2004 29.7 11.2 1.3 6.4 48.6
2005¹ 28.2 11.2 1.3 7.1 47.8
2006 26.7 11.4 1.3 7.1 46.5
2007 24.9 11.4 1.3 7.2 44.9
2008 26.5 10.9 1.3 7.3 46.0

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