ENERGY SAVINGS IN HOUSEHOLDS VIA BEHAVIORAL CHANGE DRIVEN BY CONSUMPTION VISIBILITY

Abstract

Energy efficiency in households is closely related with energy poverty in particularly when it comes to developing countries. Namely, low households’ incomes combined with low efficient buildings and low efficient home appliances are very common situation for these countries. Macedonia is not an exception. On the other hand, lower standard prevents the majority of the households to invest in energy efficiency improvements. This paper focuses on implementation of no cost measures affecting human behavior in order to improve energy efficiency and gain energy savings in households. The only change that will be introduced to influence that behavior is real time measurement (visibility) of the energy consumption for specific home appliances with customized energy savings kit. Each energy saving kit contains the following items: two electricity consumption’s measurement devices operational with internet, two electricity consumption’s measurement devices operational without internet, thermometer for temperatures measurements in the fridge and freezer, device for ambient temperature and humidity, two LED lightings, light socket, guidance for usage of the kit and diary for energy consumption’s data collection and recording. The research is conducted within 43days period, over the two groups of households in Skopje – test group (8 households) and control group (8 households). Each household is assigned to one of these groups based on the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) principle. In order to analyze the effect of the energy consumption related behavior before and after the treatment/experiment, the Difference to Differences (DiD) method was used. The results show on average 15% lower energy consumption only due to behavioral changes driven by enabling consumption visibility. The savings are greater in the high electricity tariff for the both groups.