An Analysis of Households Choice of Solid Fuels as a Primary and Supplementary Heating Fuel

The residential sector in Ireland is a large user of solid fuels for space heating purposes. Solid fuels are commonly used to supplement other forms of heating rather than as the primary source. Using a survey data set of Irish households and a multinomial logit approach, differences between the household characteristics of primary and supplementary solid fuel users are identified, including for levels of education, age of dwelling, location and pro-environmental attitudes. Evidence also shows that increases in income lead to a transition away from primary solid fuel use but not supplementary consumption, suggesting that an energy stacking model explains the household’s choice of heating fuels in Ireland. Given the established effects that solid fuels have on air quality and the scale of supplementary solid fuel use, policies to promote a transition to cleaner fuels need to account for the clear differences in the features of the two user groups.