In 2014, there were an estimated 23.4 million dwellings in England, including both occupied and vacant homes (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2015). The UK housing stock has a variety of household types and tenure. Within the variety of household type there are married/cohabiting couples with and without dependent children, lone parent families, multi- person households (such as flat sharers or lone parents with no dependent children), and one person occupied dwellings. Household tenure is typically classified into three groups: home owners, social and private renters. The majority of owner occupied dwellings are houses (92%), and a quarter of those are detached.
The East Midlands is one of the nine English regions, which consists of Derbyshire, Leicester- shire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Loughborough a town of near 60,000 residents is in Leicestershire. The LEEDR sample is located within a 4 miles radius of Loughborough.
The 20 LEEDR homes vary in construction but are typical of their respective years of con- struction, from 1900 to 2002, and of those found throughout the UK. All houses are detached or semi-detached and characteristics are varied regarding age of construction, main wall type, house size, appliance ownership and heating system characteristics.
All homes are occupied by families with dependent children that range in number and age, from 3 to 6 persons, including parents with children to families with relatives living together. The LEEDR sample represents more than a third of the household stock in terms of household type and tenure considering that owner occupied dwellings represent 64% of the UK population, and that cohabiting couples with dependent children account for 37% of the owner occupied dwellings. Of the 20 LEEDR homes, one left the project due to a house move, there were 11 with satisfactory levels of monitoring, 7 of which agreed to participate in the study. The foremost characteristics of the sample of households that took part in the interviews, are summarised in Table 3.2.
3. RESEAR CH FRAM EW ORK AND D A T A COLLECTION 36
Table 3.2: Sample dwelling and family characteristics.
House Construction House Wall Glazing Rooms Showers Hot water Appliances Adults 21-14 13-8 7-0 Weekdays Away
year type insulation (all) number years years years occupied weekends
H05 1940 SD Insulated cavity Double 9 1 Combi 34 2 1 1day Regularly
H09 1960 D Insulated cavity Double 12 2 Combi 36 2 2 4 days Rarely
H10 1980 D Insulated cavity Double 10 2 Combi 39 2 2 5 days Rarely
H30 1950 D Solid Wall Single 9 1 Combi 33 1 1 5 days Rarely
H37 1970 D Insulated cavity Double 11 2 Combi 37 2 2 5 days Rarely
H39 1950 D Solid Wall Double 9 1 Combi 42 2 1 1 1 day Rarely
3.3.1 Household data
General information about participants was collected via an on-line self reported survey, dur- ing household visits and phone calls. The self reported on-line survey was performed at the beginning of the project. The survey inquires the main characteristics of the building, heating system, appliance ownership, energy billing and basic demographic information, such as number and age, salary, range and educational levels of occupants. The questions surveyed can be seen in Appendix D; this survey, together with technical photos of home gadgets and floor plans, constitutes the general technical data for each house. The data was input in the model to determine household characteristics impacting on the energy balance, and was used to inform the modelling, in terms of:
• building element dimensions and characteristics; • dimensions;
• occupancy patterns investigated, and, • appliance ownership.
3.3.2 Building characteristics
Five homes are detached houses (D) and two, H05 and H46, are semi-detached (SD); houses were built between 1940 and 1990 and their insulation levels range from solid wall in H30 and H39, to insulated cavity walls with and without loft insulation. The glazing characteristics also varied house to house, from a mix of basic double glazed windows with timber frame from the 1950s and a percentage of single glazing, i.e. H39; to a mix of PVC framed double windows and a proportion of triple glazing, i.e. H37; The ground floor in all households but H05 is a solid concrete slab; H05 ground floor is suspended timber. House size varies from just above 100 m2 in H30 and H39 to 170m2 in H10, as shown in Figure 3.3, the total number of rooms (including kitchen, bathroom, hall etc) varied between 9 and 12.
0 50 100 150 200 H05 H09 H10 H30 H37 H39 H46 Floor area (m 2 )
Figure 3.3: A comparison of floor areas of the houses in the sample.
3.3.3 Heating system and appliances ownership
Hot water and central space heating is either supplied by tank or a combination boiler with a range of efficiencies between 79 % and 91% as listed in Table 3.3; Figures are based on the SEDBUK rating, ‘Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the UK’ which is an indicator of boiler efficiencies developed by the UK government in conjunction with boiler manufacturers (Home Heating Guide, 2014). Showers are provided with hot water from the main boiler and/or from electric showers. The number of showers varies from one to two and there are electric showers in H09, H37 and H39. The ownership of appliances varies from 34 devices in H05 to 49 in H46.
Table 3.3: Household boiler efficiency ().
House H05 H09 H10 H30 H37 H39 H46 Efficiency () 87 % 79% 90% 90% 90% 78% 91%
3.3.4 Demographics
The sample includes a single parental family home with one child; a multi-generation family home with four children, parents and grandmother; four houses with four family members and one house with three. The most common family size was four people, two parents and two children. The age of the adults ranged from one young couple in their thirties to one mature couple in their late fifties. The rest of the sample were within their late forties and early fifties. All the families are high and middle income families with a variety of background levels from basic to post-graduate education. Two male householders, H10MA 1 and H37MA were experts in data analysis and research.
3.3.5 Occupancy
Households had partial occupancy during the week, at least one day a week, such as H05MA who works from home on Fridays, but most of them are occupied by at least one person the whole week, either partially or during working hours; this is the case for H10, H30, H37, and H46.
Households were occupied on weekdays during working hours, at least partially and weekend occupancy varied. H05, for example, is occupied on Fridays, when H05MA worked from home; H09 is also occupied on Fridays, and H39 is occupied by H39MA on Thursdays. H10, H30 and H46 are fully occupied during the week; H10FA and H30FA worked at home, whereas H46 is occupied by H46GFA; H37 is normally occupied from noon, as H37FA2 works part time.
1MA: Male Adult; code used to name anonymous individuals. 2