Power efficiency classes for households – a comparative feedback approach for speeding up energy efficiency on a household level

Panel: 8. Monitoring and evaluation: building confidence and enhancing practices

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Immanuel Stieß, ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Germany
Michael Kunkis, ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Germany
Corinna Fischer, Oeko-Institute e.V., Germany

Abstract

Reducing power consumption is a vital building block for transforming the energy system. In the contribution, we will present insights from an ongoing research project “power efficiency classes for household” (funded by the German Ministry for research and Education), studying how power consumption in households can be sustainably reduced and stabilized over the long term.

The approach uses the concept of efficiency classes to provide a comparative feedback on households’ total power consumption. The power efficiency classes of households are developed as an indicator for households to more easily estimate their total power consumption and better implement specific goals for saving power. These efficiency classes might include classes A–F like the power label of the European Union.

On this basis the power efficiency classes label pools the total power consumption of a house-hold and assigns it a consumption class. A labelling process for particularly frugal households or households achieving a significant reduction in power use that is harmonized with this procedure makes things simple and transparent and thus increases the motivation to attain a better power efficiency class. An energy audit and corresponding power saving packages help households identify saving potentials in order to improve their energy efficiency class. This approach will be implemented in 100 selected households in cooperation with power companies and manufacturers of appliances in a field test. The aim of this test is to evaluate the households’ sensitization for their own power consumption and the suitability for everyday use of the various power saving packages.

In the contribution, we will present the power efficiency classes label for households and report first results from an empirical survey among the participating households. Against this back-ground, we will discuss some implications for implementing and scaling-up SCP practices in relation to sustainable energy use, to improve efficiency on a household level and to raise awareness for rebound effects.