IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v145y2020ics0301421520304493.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating consumption and cost savings from new air-conditioner purchases: The case of Singapore

Author

Listed:
  • Liddle, Brantley
  • Loi, Tian Sheng Allan
  • Owen, Anthony D.
  • Tao, Jacqueline

Abstract

Air conditioning (AC) is a major source of household electricity consumption in Singapore and there is evidence that the efficiency of ACs could be improved substantially. Employing 45 months of energy bills and survey data and the Fixed Effects difference-in-differences estimator, we calculated a savings of 7.8% of total energy consumption after the purchase of a more efficient AC compared to an estimated expected savings of 12.6%. This suggests a rebound or take-back of savings around 38.2%. Such a less-than-100% of theoretical savings achieved is in line with other (outside Singapore) estimates and economic/behavioural theory since after purchasing a new AC, households may (i) use a lower temperature setting or (ii) use the AC longer in order to (1) fulfil (previously) unmet demand and/or (2) respond to the effective lower costs of running the AC. Our results have implications for both energy efficiency labelling policies and for Singapore's recently implemented carbon tax.

Suggested Citation

  • Liddle, Brantley & Loi, Tian Sheng Allan & Owen, Anthony D. & Tao, Jacqueline, 2020. "Evaluating consumption and cost savings from new air-conditioner purchases: The case of Singapore," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:145:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520304493
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111722
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520304493
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111722?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Victor L. & Delmas, Magali A. & Kaiser, William J. & Locke, Stephen L., 2015. "What can we learn from high-frequency appliance-level energy metering? Results from a field experiment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 164-175.
    2. Alberini, Anna & Towe, Charles, 2015. "Information v. energy efficiency incentives: Evidence from residential electricity consumption in Maryland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 30-40.
    3. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2016. "Matching on the Estimated Propensity Score," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 781-807, March.
    4. Buchanan, Kathryn & Russo, Riccardo & Anderson, Ben, 2015. "The question of energy reduction: The problem(s) with feedback," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 89-96.
    5. Iacus, Stefano & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2009. "cem: Software for Coarsened Exact Matching," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 30(i09).
    6. Mizobuchi, Kenichi & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2016. "Replacement or additional purchase: The impact of energy-efficient appliances on household electricity saving under public pressures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 137-148.
    7. Shirley Pon, 2017. "The Effect of Information on TOU Electricity Use: an Irish residential study," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 6).
    8. Joshua Graff Zivin & Kevin Novan, 2016. "Upgrading Efficiency and Behavior: Electricity Savings from Residential Weatherization Programs," The Energy Journal, , vol. 37(4), pages 1-24, October.
    9. Matthew Blackwell & Stefano Iacus & Gary King & Giuseppe Porro, 2009. "cem: Coarsened exact matching in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(4), pages 524-546, December.
    10. Hori, Shiro & Kondo, Kayoko & Nogata, Daisuke & Ben, Han, 2013. "The determinants of household energy-saving behavior: Survey and comparison in five major Asian cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 354-362.
    11. Giovanni Cerulli, 2022. "Econometric Evaluation of Socio-Economic Programs," Advanced Studies in Theoretical and Applied Econometrics, Springer, edition 2, number 978-3-662-65945-8, July-Dece.
    12. Agarwal, Sumit & Rengarajan, Satyanarain & Sing, Tien Foo & Yang, Yang, 2017. "Nudges from school children and electricity conservation: Evidence from the “Project Carbon Zero” campaign in Singapore," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 29-41.
    13. Schleich, Joachim & Faure, Corinne & Klobasa, Marian, 2017. "Persistence of the effects of providing feedback alongside smart metering devices on household electricity demand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 225-233.
    14. Haas, Reinhard & Biermayr, Peter, 2000. "The rebound effect for space heating Empirical evidence from Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 403-410, June.
    15. Lee, Myoung-jae, 2016. "Matching, Regression Discontinuity, Difference in Differences, and Beyond," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190258740.
    16. Lucas W. Davis & Alan Fuchs & Paul Gertler, 2014. "Cash for Coolers: Evaluating a Large-Scale Appliance Replacement Program in Mexico," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 207-238, November.
    17. Galarraga, Ibon & González-Eguino, Mikel & Markandya, Anil, 2011. "Willingness to pay and price elasticities of demand for energy-efficient appliances: Combining the hedonic approach and demand systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 66-74.
    18. Anna Alberini, Will Gans, and Charles Towe, 2016. "Free Riding, Upsizing, and Energy Efficiency Incentives in Maryland Homes," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    19. J. Daniel Khazzoom, 1980. "Economic Implications of Mandated Efficiency in Standards for Household Appliances," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 21-40.
    20. David Revelt & Kenneth Train, 1998. "Mixed Logit With Repeated Choices: Households' Choices Of Appliance Efficiency Level," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 647-657, November.
    21. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Das, Sukanya & De Groote, Hugo & Behera, Bhagirath, 2014. "Determinants of household energy use in Bhutan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 661-672.
    22. Kenneth E. Train & Terry Atherton, 1995. "Rebates, Loans, and Customers' Choice of Appliance Efficiency Level: Combining Stated- and Revealed-Preference Data," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 55-70.
    23. Brookes, L. G., 1978. "Energy policy, the energy price fallacy and the role of nuclear energy in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 94-106, June.
    24. Sebastien Houde, Annika Todd, Anant Sudarshan, June A. Flora , and K. Carrie Armel, 2013. "Real-time Feedback and Electricity Consumption: A Field Experiment Assessing the Potential for Savings and Persistence," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    25. Paul J. Ferraro & Juan Jose Miranda & Michael K. Price, 2011. "The Persistence of Treatment Effects with Norm-Based Policy Instruments: Evidence from a Randomized Environmental Policy Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 318-322, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhu, Mengshu & Huang, Ying & Wang, Si-Nuo & Zheng, Xinye & Wei, Chu, 2023. "Characteristics and patterns of residential energy consumption for space cooling in China: Evidence from appliance-level data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    2. Joan Manuel Felix Benitez & Luis Alfonso del Portillo-Valdés & Rene Pérez & David Sosa, 2022. "Methodology to Determine Energy Efficiency Strategies in Buildings Sited in Tropical Climatic Zones; Case Study, Buildings of the Tertiary Sector in the Dominican Republic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-31, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan, 2020. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to energy savings in the building sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Ensieh Shojaeddini & Ben Gilbert, 2023. "Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Evidence from Efficient Lighting Subsidies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 173-217, January.
    3. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet, 2018. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to building energy savings," Working Papers 2018.07, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    4. Miriam Berretta & Joshua Furgeson & Yue (Nicole) Wu & Collins Zamawe & Ian Hamilton & John Eyers, 2021. "Residential energy efficiency interventions: A meta‐analysis of effectiveness studies," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    5. Anil Markandya & Xavier Labandeira & Ana Ramos, 2013. "Policy Instruments to Foster Energy Efficiency," Working Papers 01-2014, Economics for Energy.
    6. Spandagos, Constantine & Baark, Erik & Ng, Tze Ling & Yarime, Masaru, 2021. "Social influence and economic intervention policies to save energy at home: Critical questions for the new decade and evidence from air-condition use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    7. Ross C. Beppler & Daniel C. Matisoff & Matthew E. Oliver, 2023. "Electricity consumption changes following solar adoption: Testing for a solar rebound," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(1), pages 58-81, January.
    8. Aydin, Erdal, 2016. "Energy conservation in the residential sector : The role of policy and market forces," Other publications TiSEM b9cedba8-1310-4097-90fb-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Petrov, Ivan & Ryan, Lisa, 2021. "The landlord-tenant problem and energy efficiency in the residential rental market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2019. "The Economics of Energy Efficiency, a Historical Perspective," CIRED Working Papers halshs-02301636, HAL.
    11. Inoue, Nozomu & Matsumoto, Shigeru, 2019. "An examination of losses in energy savings after the Japanese Top Runner Program?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 312-319.
    12. Belaïd, Fateh & Youssef, Adel Ben & Lazaric, Nathalie, 2020. "Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    13. Galarraga, Ibon & Abadie, Luis M. & Ansuategi, Alberto, 2013. "Efficiency, effectiveness and implementation feasibility of energy efficiency rebates: The “Renove” plan in Spain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 98-107.
    14. Wang, Zhaohua & Lu, Milin & Wang, Jian-Cai, 2014. "Direct rebound effect on urban residential electricity use: An empirical study in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 124-132.
    15. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson, 2019. "The symbiotic rebound effect in the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 61-69.
    16. Milin Lu & Zhaohua Wang, 2017. "Rebound effects for residential electricity use in urban China: an aggregation analysis based E-I-O and scenario simulation," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 255(1), pages 525-546, August.
    17. Qiu, Yueming (Lucy) & Wang, Yi David & Xing, Bo, 2021. "Grid impact of non-residential distributed solar energy and reduced air emissions: Empirical evidence from individual-consumer-level smart meter data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    18. Heesen, Florian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "Consumer Behavior in Energy-Efficient Homes: The Limited Merits of Energy Performance Ratings as Benchmarks," FCN Working Papers 17/2016, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    19. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2023. "The History of Energy Efficiency in Economics: Breakpoints and Regularities," Post-Print halshs-02301636, HAL.
    20. Pon, Shirley, 2015. "Effectiveness of Real Time Information Provision with Time of Use Pricing," FCN Working Papers 8/2015, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised Oct 2015.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:145:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520304493. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.