Billing feedback as means to encourage household electricity conservation: A field experiment in Helsinki

Anne Arvola, Antti Uutela, and Ulla Anttila, University of Helsinki, Department of Socila Psychology

Keywords

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effects of consumption feedback on residential electricity consumption.

About 700 families living in detached houses heated with electricity participated the experiment. The households were divided into four similar groups: three experimental groups and one control group. During the experiment all experimental groups received bills based on actual consumption -not average bills as before. During the second year groups 2 and 3 received also comparative feedback about their electricity consumption, which included saving tips for group 3.

The consumption of all groups increased because of cold weather. However, the increase of the experimen-tal groups was clearly smaller than that of the control group. From the year 1989 to 1991 the consumption increase in the control group was 1 %-units more than in group 1 and 3 - 4,7 5% -units more than in groups 2and3.

The consumption changes suggest that the billing for actual use did have some effects on consumption, and that feedback further increased the savings. However, the saving tips did not have effects on consumption any more than tbe feedback alone. In addition, the final interviews and questiomaires suggest that the new billing system and feedback made people more aware of their consumption. CustomersÉ responses to the new system were also positive.

The two and a half years experiment (1990 - 1992) was carried out jointly by the Helsinki Energy Board and the Department of Social Psychology at the University of Helsinki.