The Oil Firing Technical Association has outlined its recommendations to help Britain's 800,000 oil-using households, of which approximately 100,000 are fuel-poor.

The latest government figures have shown that 2.28 million British households were living in fuel poverty as of 2012, and this figure was projected to increase to 2.33 million in 2014. In addition, the number of excess winter deaths in the 2012 – 2013 period rose 29% to more than 31,000, with over 90% being older people. A significant contributing factor cited was the need to choose between heating and eating because of high energy bills.

To combat this, OFTEC has made several suggestions, including insulation in these properties to band C or better, and replacing the many thousands of standard efficiency boilers still in use with modern condensing models. According to OFTEC, this simple step can save up to 20% on fuel bills and also reduce carbon emissions.

“With projections showing that the fuel poverty problem is only set to get worse, this is an urgent issue which needs to be tackled now,” said Jeremy Hawksley, director general at OFTEC. “Many of the properties with the worst Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings are older, rural properties – many of which run on oil.

“An upgrade to a modern condensing oil boiler would help these people enormously, particularly as oil continues to be the only primary heating fuel which has fallen in price over the past three years, making it by far the cheapest option for off gas grid homes."

EBR will be highlighting the issue during Cold Homes Week, which lasts from 3 to 7 February 2015, and will join forces with OFTEC to call on the government to launch a more ambitious home energy efficiency programme, with priority given to the fuel poor.

OFTEC is also renewing its pressure on the government to introduce a simple boiler scrappage scheme to provide UK homeowners with an easy and affordable way to upgrade their boilers and save money on their fuel bills.