IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v38y2010i10p6111-6119.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making energy visible: A qualitative field study of how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors

Author

Listed:
  • Hargreaves, Tom
  • Nye, Michael
  • Burgess, Jacquelin

Abstract

This paper explores how UK householders interacted with feedback on their domestic energy consumption in a field trial of real-time displays or smart energy monitors. After examining relevant bodies of literature on the effects of energy feedback on consumption behaviour, and on the complex role of energy and appliances within household moral economies, the paper draws on qualitative evidence from interviews with 15 UK householders trialling smart energy monitors of differing levels of sophistication. It focuses specifically on householder motivations for acquiring the monitors, how the monitors have been used, how feedback has changed consumption behaviour, and the limitations to further behavioural change the householders experienced. The paper concludes by identifying significant implications for future research and policy in this area.

Suggested Citation

  • Hargreaves, Tom & Nye, Michael & Burgess, Jacquelin, 2010. "Making energy visible: A qualitative field study of how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6111-6119, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:10:p:6111-6119
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(10)00460-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Boardman, Brenda, 2004. "New directions for household energy efficiency: evidence from the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(17), pages 1921-1933, November.
    2. Kempton, Willett & Layne, Linda L., 1994. "The consumer's energy analysis environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 857-866, October.
    3. Wilhite, Harold & Nakagami, Hidetoshi & Masuda, Takashi & Yamaga, Yukiko & Haneda, Hiroshi, 1996. "A cross-cultural analysis of household energy use behaviour in Japan and Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(9), pages 795-803, September.
    4. Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Linden, Anna-Lisa, 2007. "Energy efficiency in residences--Challenges for women and men in the North," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2163-2172, April.
    5. Burgess, Jacquelin & Nye, Michael, 2008. "Re-materialising energy use through transparent monitoring systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4454-4459, December.
    6. Aune, Margrethe, 2007. "Energy comes home," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5457-5465, November.
    7. J Burgess & C M Harrison & P Filius, 1998. "Environmental Communication and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Citizenship," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(8), pages 1445-1460, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Tjørring, Lise & Jensen, Carsten Lynge & Hansen, Lars Gårn & Andersen, Laura Mørch, 2018. "Increasing the flexibility of electricity consumption in private households: Does gender matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 9-18.
    2. Kendel, Adnane & Lazaric, Nathalie & Maréchal, Kevin, 2017. "What do people ‘learn by looking’ at direct feedback on their energy consumption? Results of a field study in Southern France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 593-605.
    3. Grégoire Wallenborn, 2015. "L’efficience énergétique et les effets rebonds :déficiences théoriques et paradoxes pratiques," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/216731, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Bladh, Mats & Krantz, Helena, 2008. "Towards a bright future? Household use of electric light: A microlevel study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3521-3530, September.
    5. Heidenstrøm, Nina & Throne-Holst, Harald, 2020. "“Someone will take care of it”. Households' understanding of their responsibility to prepare for and cope with electricity and ICT infrastructure breakdowns," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Michael Nye & Lorraine Whitmarsh & Timothy Foxon, 2010. "Sociopsychological Perspectives on the Active Roles of Domestic Actors in Transition to a Lower Carbon Electricity Economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(3), pages 697-714, March.
    7. Véronique Vasseur & Anne-Francoise Marique & Vladimir Udalov, 2019. "A Conceptual Framework to Understand Households’ Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Sunčana Slijepčević & Davor Mikulić & Kristijan Horvat, 2019. "Evaluation of the Cost-Effectiveness of the Installation of Heat-Cost Allocators in Multifamily Buildings in Croatia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, February.
    9. Estiri, Hossein, 2015. "The indirect role of households in shaping US residential energy demand patterns," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 585-594.
    10. Darby, Sarah, 2006. "Social learning and public policy: Lessons from an energy-conscious village," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 2929-2940, November.
    11. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2009. "The importance of comprehensiveness in renewable electricity and energy-efficiency policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1529-1541, April.
    12. Niamh Murtagh & Birgitta Gatersleben & David Uzzell, 2014. "20∶60∶20 - Differences in Energy Behaviour and Conservation between and within Households with Electricity Monitors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-12, March.
    13. Hege Westskog & Tanja Winther & Hanne Sæle, 2015. "The Effects of In-Home Displays—Revisiting the Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-21, May.
    14. Büchs, Milena & Bahaj, AbuBakr S. & Blunden, Luke & Bourikas, Leonidas & Falkingham, Jane & James, Patrick & Kamanda, Mamusu & Wu, Yue, 2018. "Promoting low carbon behaviours through personalised information? Long-term evaluation of a carbon calculator interview," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 284-293.
    15. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    16. Becker, Sophia & Schober, Dominik & Wassermann, Sandra, 2016. "How to approach consumers’ nonmonetary evaluation of electricity supply security? The case of Germany from a multidisciplinary perspective," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 74-84.
    17. Nyberg, Roy A., 2018. "Using ‘smartness’ to reorganise sectors: Energy infrastructure and information engagement," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 60-68.
    18. Elnakat, Afamia & Gomez, Juan D., 2015. "Energy engenderment: An industrialized perspective assessing the importance of engaging women in residential energy consumption management," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 166-177.
    19. 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.
    20. Buchanan, Kathryn & Russo, Riccardo & Anderson, Ben, 2014. "Feeding back about eco-feedback: How do consumers use and respond to energy monitors?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 138-146.

    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:38:y:2010:i:10:p:6111-6119. 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.