Consumer Vulnerability

Greener Home

Project Data

Start date:

01/04/2025

End date:

31/10/2027

Budget:

£1,716,885

Summary

The Greener Home project is creating the Home Energy Saver website, a one-stop resource for customers seeking tailored energy advice. By combining support across income and energy efficiency topics, the site will generate personalised home energy plans to help customers lower their energy use and bills. Home Energy Saver supports UK Power Network’s ambitious ED2 consumer vulnerability goals by directly assisting 500,000 customers at risk of being left behind in the energy transition. It also contributes to delivering net present value (NPV) and achieving a customer satisfaction (CSAT) target score of 9.5.

Home Energy Saver Website

What is the project about?

The Greener Home project is creating the Home Energy Saver website, a one-stop resource for customers seeking tailored energy advice. By combining support across income and energy efficiency topics, the site will generate personalised home energy plans to help customers lower their energy use and bills. It is designed to provide practical guidance for everyone, regardless of whether they rent or own their home, their budget, or their prior experience with energy-efficiency measures.

Key features include:

Personalised energy action plan based on user inputs, giving bespoke advice to each customer on how they can improve their energy efficiency. Examples of user inputs include housing status, expertise level, and priorities

Free and easy to use Benefits and Grants calculator so customers can check if they are entitled to any additional government support or other grants

Appliance calculator — to understand how using appliances differently can help save money

As an enhancement to the core website, a behaviour change game is being developed. This will be a modular solution, including an informative video, engaging game and actionable next steps. The purpose is to provide an engaging entry point to the information on the website, with a lower time requirement. Continuous improvements (e.g., an accessibility toolbar) will also be implemented.

How we’re doing it

The Home Energy Saver website has been developed through multiple rounds of design, development and customer testing. Given its impact on customer satisfaction scores, a phased launch approach is being adopted, with a gradual initial ramp-up. We are working with teams across the business, including Consumer Vulnerability and Customer Services, to support successful roll-out.

The website works via a simple web link and guides users through a short series of questions. Based on their responses, it recommends tailored energy-saving measures that can be added or removed to create a personalised action plan. Customers can also choose to access the grant and benefit eligibility checkers and appliance calculator.

The behaviour change game is being developed in parallel, featuring:

An informative video explaining simple energy–efficiency and cost-saving measures

An engaging game highlighting opportunities and approaches available for energy efficiency and cost-saving topics

Information and next steps helping users implement measures of interest

The behaviour change game will follow the same iterative process of development, customer testing and implementation of feedback.

An accessibility toolbar will also be implemented, alongside a scoping exercise to understand existing external or UKPN-managed tools that could be integrated into the website, broadening available information and reaching a greater range of customers.

What makes it innovative

Certain elements of the tool have been deployed and used in the UK (e.g. Snugg, Citizens Advice, etc.) to support customers with their energy efficiency advice, however, the combination of all of these separate elements onto one platform is a first of its kind, creating a one-stop shop for a wide range of advice and support to extend the accessibility of the service.

This website is also innovative as it addresses a commonly known barrier for low-carbon technologies: they are costly and mostly benefit homeowners with disposable incomes. This website addresses these challenges by making customers aware of the benefits and home upgrade grants they’re entitled to, and through highlighting small measures anyone can take to save money and improve the energy–efficiency of their home.

There is currently no available product on the market that offers the benefit and grant checker function and is from a completely impartial source.

The development and integration of the modular game also make the website a unique offering. Research and iterative customer testing ensure it delivers meaningfully for our vulnerable customers and effectively supports them in their energy–efficiency journey.

What we’re learning

Significant customer testing continues to be completed both for the core website and game. We have also created a dashboard to enable analysis of how users interact with the tool. Results from this testing have broader benefits as they outline how digital tools need to be developed and positioned to ensure customers adopt them. This is an essential piece of research as digital tools are increasingly relevant – these findings will support the successful development of future digital tools within Consumer Vulnerability or more broadly across the business.

Learnings gained include:

How customers engage with digital tool

Issues customers face when actioning energy–efficiency measures recommended

Feedback on content the customers like or dislike to inform future engagement with vulnerable customers

Wording and language customers typically struggle with

Preferred engagement methods and their distribution

Tool usage links to certain user characteristics i.e. can we identify customers eligible for the PSR

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Project Data