Over 145,000 households are now experiencing fuel poverty, in which more than 10% of their disposable income is spent on energy.
A new report from Sustainable Energy Ireland says consumers are spending 70% more on their energy bills than they did 16 years ago.
Statistical reports from SEI are the gold-standard when it comes to gaining an understanding of energy use in Ireland.
The latest report focuses on the key energy trends in the residential sector, including the average annual spend on energy, efficiency levels and carbon dioxide emissions. It looks mainly at differences between 1990 and 2006.
It shows that housing is now far more efficient, taking only 33% of the energy to heat that it did 30 years ago. But, people are building bigger houses and using far more appliances.
So while energy efficiency has increased by 15%, electricity use has soared by a whopping 62%.
The 62% spike is believed to have been partly caused by the increasing size of appliances and their increased use.
Television sets are getting bigger, and people have more of them in their homes and watch them more often.
The inevitable and negative consequence of such an increase is higher greenhouse gas emissions.
The annual spend by households on energy is over €1,700, which is up 70% on 1990.
Factoring in the recent hike in oil prices, the figure is now closer to €2,100 per annum.
SEI says one person in every ten is now experiencing problems paying energy bills and could be described as experiencing fuel poverty.
