The Impact of Real-Time and Disaggregated Energy Consumption Feedback on Residential Gas and Electricity Usage

We implemented a Randomized Controlled Trial to estimate the impact of real-time energy consumption feedback on residential energy use. A random half of the participant households were equipped with an energy consumption monitor that uses smart-meter data to relay information on real-time energy use. The feedback resulted in a 6.9 and 2.2 percent reduction in, respectively, gas and electricity consumption. While we do not detect any appliance-specific changes in the use of electricity, gas savings are the result of especially changes in space heating, as savings are larger on colder days. We probe the underlying mechanisms by means of a survey. We find that the display’s main impact is via raising the salience of energy costs, suggesting that the display is effective in helping households to better align their actual energy consumption with their optimal consumption pattern