Keeping energy visible? Exploring how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors in the longer term

Tom Hargreaves, Michael Nye and Jacquelin Burgess

Energy Policy, 2013, vol. 52, issue C, 126-134

Abstract: This paper reports on how, over a 12-month period, UK householders interacted with feedback on their domestic electricity consumption in a field trial of real time displays or smart energy monitors. Drawing on the findings of 11 follow-up qualitative interviews with householders involved in a ‘Visible Energy Trial’, the paper suggests that: (i) over time, smart energy monitors gradually become ‘backgrounded’ within normal household routines and practices; (ii) the monitors do increase householders’ knowledge of and confidence about the amount of electricity they consume; (iii) but, beyond a certain level and for a wide variety of reasons, the monitors do not necessarily encourage or motivate householders to reduce their levels of consumption; and (iv) once equipped with new knowledge and expertise about their levels of electricity consumption, household practices may become harder to change as householders realise the limits to their energy saving potential and become frustrated by the absence of wider policy and market support. The paper concludes by reflecting on the policy and research implications of these findings in relation to future transition pathways to a low-carbon economy.

Keywords: Smart meters and energy feedback; Household energy consumption; Longitudinal research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (85)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512002327
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:52:y:2013:i:c:p:126-134

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.03.027

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().