Determinant Factors of Electricity Consumption for a Malaysian Household Based on a Field Survey

Boni Sena, Sheikh Ahmad Zaki, Hom Bahadur Rijal, Jorge Alfredo Ardila-Rey, Nelidya Md Yusoff, Fitri Yakub, Mohammad Kholid Ridwan and Firdaus Muhammad-Sukki
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Boni Sena: Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
Sheikh Ahmad Zaki: Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
Hom Bahadur Rijal: Faculty of Environmental Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama 224-8551, Japan
Jorge Alfredo Ardila-Rey: Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Santiago de Chile 8940000, Chile
Nelidya Md Yusoff: Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
Fitri Yakub: Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
Mohammad Kholid Ridwan: Faculty of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
Firdaus Muhammad-Sukki: School of Engineering & the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Merchiston Campus, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-31

Abstract: Electricity-saving strategies are an essential solution to overcoming increasing global CO 2 emission and electricity consumption problems; therefore, the determinant factors of electricity consumption in households need to be assessed. Most previous studies were conducted in developed countries of subtropical regions that had different household characteristic factors from those in developing countries of tropical regions. A field survey was conducted on electricity consumption for Malaysian households to investigate the factors affecting electricity consumption that focused on technology perspective (building and appliance characteristics) and socio-economic perspective (socio-demographics and occupant behaviour). To analyse the determinant factors of electricity consumption, direct and indirect questionnaire surveys were conducted from November 2017 to January 2018 among 214 university students. Direct questionnaire surveys were performed in order to obtain general information that is easily answered by respondents. On the other hand, some questions such as electricity consumption and detailed information of appliances must be confirmed by the respondents’ parents or other household members through an indirect questionnaire survey. The results from multiple linear regression analyses of the survey responses showed that appliance characteristic factors were the main variables influencing electricity consumption and house characteristics were the least significant. Specifically, air conditioners, fluorescent lamps, and flat-screen TVs emerged as appliances with the most significant effect on electricity consumption. Occupant behaviour factors had a more significant influence than socio-demographic factors. The findings in this study can be used by policymakers to develop electricity-saving strategies in Malaysia.

Keywords: appliance characteristic; determinant factors; electricity consumption; house characteristic; occupant behaviour; socio-demographic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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