Heating and cooling are at the centre of household budgets and carbon emissions. Addressing this sector is critical for both climate action and social fairness, yet it remains one of the most overlooked areas of the energy transition.
Heating and cooling: Europe’s biggest energy cost
For the average citizen, heating and cooling account for around 63% of household energy use, making it the single largest source of carbon emissions alongside transport. It is also the most expensive: 80% of a building’s energy costs typically come from heating and cooling.
Yet millions of Europeans struggle with this essential service. Around 10% of EU households cannot adequately heat or cool their homes, while air pollution from burning fossil fuels and biomass imposes an additional hidden cost of around €130 per household each year. These burdens often fall hardest on those already in energy poverty, who face both the highest bills and the steepest health costs.
The role of the Citizens’ Energy Package
The Citizens’ Energy Package (CEP) offers an opportunity to transform this picture. By supporting cleaner, more efficient heating and cooling solutions, the CEP can help households save money, cut emissions, and gain more control over their energy use.
The Cool Heating Coalition emphasises that citizens must be placed at the centre of the transition. The CEP can:
- Enable people and communities to produce, save, and consume more renewable energy.
- Provide targeted support to vulnerable households in energy poverty.
- Build public momentum for phasing out fossil fuels, which still make up three-quarters of heating and cooling energy.
Three priorities for action
In its submission to the European Commission’s recent call for evidence, the Coalition proposed three clear priorities to ensure the CEP delivers on its promise:
- Tackle energy poverty — provide direct support for lower-income households upgrading to clean heating and cooling systems.
- Empower citizens and communities — give consumers real agency to participate and benefit in the energy market.
- Improve access to information — ensure citizens have clear, reliable, and easy-to-understand guidance to make informed choices about energy.