ENERGY USE-BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS OF HOUSEHOLDS IN HUNGARY: FACTORS OF POSSIBLE ENERGY VULNERABILITY

The aim of the study is to examine the inequalities in access to and consumption of energy in Hungary. We also explore the major socio-economic and building-related factors that increase the risk of possible energy vulnerability. European comparative studies show that in Mediterranean and Central European coun-tries, including Hungary, access to adequate energy remains a serious problem for certain social groups. In Hungary, little research has been conducted on household energy consumption and inequalities in energy use; the majority of existing studies focuses on energy poverty and its decisive factors in Hungary, however, this only included the review of households, who spend a significant part of their income on energy. Our survey is based on a secondary analysis of a large, representative national survey conducted by the Central Statistical Office in 2018. The novelty of our approach is that, based on the intensity of the types of energy used by households, it examines the different patterns of energy use and behaviour of households, while also taking the technical properties of flats and buildings and the characteristics of the household into consideration. Our results showed on the one hand the fundamental role of different combinations of energy sources used by households in the intensity of energy consumption, and on the other hand that besides the characteristics of the property concerned, the energy use and behaviour patterns of households are determined by the socio-demographic characteristics of the household as well.