Nearly half of consumers pick driving and flying as worse than heating a Victorian property

Four out of five of people underestimate the impact running a 19th Century home has on global warming.

In a survey of 3,000 consumers by housebuilder, Kingerlee Homes, only 21% of respondents correctly identifed that running a Victorian house over a year would produce more CO2 emissions than four people flying return to Central Europe or a typical 4x4 car driven for a year. Instead, nearly 38% of people thought the car was the most polluting and 41% plumped for the flights.

But running a Victorian house for a year creates 6 tonnes of CO2, the average 4x4 emits 3.2 tonnes of CO2 and a family of four would create 1.2 tonnes of CO2 per return flight.

The survey also revealed that people were more motivated by cost (58%) than saving energy (26%) in reducing home energy. At the same time, respondents understimated the savings that could be made by reducing their thermostat from 21 to 18 degrees Celsius. Over half said they thought they could make a 15% saving whereas the true figures is closer to 30%.

Topics