Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Individual Household Energy Consumption: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Energy consumption in the United States’ residential sector has been marked by a steady growth over the past few decades, in spite of the implementation of several energy efficiency policies. To develop effective energy policies for the residential sector, it is of utmost importance to study the various factors affecting residential energy consumption. Earlier studies have identified and classified various individual factors responsible for the increment in household energy consumption, and have also analyzed the effect of socio-economic factors such as standard-of-living and income on overall household energy consumption. This research study identifies the socio-economic factors affecting household energy consumption. Potential reasons for the variation in residential energy efficiency consumption have been investigated in previous studies that only represent viewpoints of investigators analyzing specific problems. Additionally, a comprehensive review of literature failed to reveal existing research that had systematically explored the interdependencies among the various factors that could possibly affect residential energy consumption to give an overall perspective of these factors. Widely used academic and scholarly scientific databases were employed by two independent investigators to search for original research investigations. A total of more than 200 research studies were found by the investigators, with almost ninety percent agreement between the two investigators. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this research study the authors systematically reviewed 51 prominent research studies to create a comprehensive list of factors affecting residential energy consumption. The results are discussed in this review.

Full text

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD ENERGY
CONSUMPTION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Suchismita Bhattacharjee, Ph.D.
Ball State University,
Muncie, IN, U.S.A.
Georg Reichard, PhD
Myers-Lawson School of Construction
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
Energy consumption in the United States’ residential sector has
been marked by a steady growth over the past few decades, in
spite of the implementation of several energy efficiency
policies. To develop effective energy policies for the residential
sector, it is of utmost importance to study the various factors
affecting residential energy consumption. Earlier studies have
identified and classified various individual factors responsible
for the increment in household energy consumption, and have
also analyzed the effect of socio-economic factors such as
standard-of-living and income on overall household energy
consumption. This research study identifies the socio-economic
factors affecting household energy consumption.
Potential reasons for the variation in residential energy
efficiency consumption have been investigated in previous
studies that only represent viewpoints of investigators analyzing
specific problems. Additionally, a comprehensive review of
literature failed to reveal existing research that had
systematically explored the interdependencies among the
various factors that could possibly affect residential energy
consumption to give an overall perspective of these factors.
Widely used academic and scholarly scientific databases were
employed by two independent investigators to search for
original research investigations. A total of more than 200
research studies were found by the investigators, with almost
ninety percent agreement between the two investigators. Based
on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this research study the
authors systematically reviewed 51 prominent research studies
to create a comprehensive list of factors affecting residential
energy consumption. The results are discussed in this review.
1. INTRODUCTION
Energy efficiency refers to a reduction in energy usage in
order to achieve a given level of output. Since the oil crisis of
1973, people have become increasingly aware of the efficient
use of energy. Lovins [1] described in his seminal paper
alternative sources of energy that are available in abundance,
and are renewable and more environmentally friendly than
fossil fuels. The development of the concept of energy
efficiency is found in previous research and is described as
“maintaining or increasing the level of useful output or outcome
delivered, while reducing energy consumption”[2].
Reducing the consumption of individual household energy
by using energy-efficient equipment and better insulation
strategies for households is obviously an energy efficiency
improvement step from the engineering point of view. This
improvement at the micro-level will not be visible at the macro-
level unless a significant mass of homeowners start to consume
energy more efficiently. Sometimes, for example, due to an
extreme increment in fuel prices, consumers decrease their fuel
consumption by changing their day to day activities, such as
driving less, or by adjusting their thermostat. These changes
cannot necessarily be counted as energy efficiency
improvements, as they may be reversed at any time once energy
prices decrease again. The World Energy Council [3] considers
energy efficiency a matter of individual behavior reflecting the
rationale of energy consumers, and of using the appropriate
technology, such as thermal regulation of room temperatures or
automatic standby mode for idle equipment.
Thus, in order to achieve energy efficiency it is important
to understand all factors that affect residential energy
consumption. Potential causes of residential energy
consumption have been investigated in previous studies, which
only represent viewpoints of respective investigators who are
concerned with a specific set of problems. A systematic study of
the various factors affecting residential energy consumption has
never been performed. This study summarizes more than fifty
prominent research articles in this area and delineates a
comprehensive list of factors affecting residential energy
consumption.
The following section describes how the authors analyzed
and summarized the conclusions of previous research studies
Proceedings of the ASME 2011 5th International Conference on Energy Sustainability
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August 7-10, 2011, Washington, DC, USA
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and ultimately generated a comprehensive list of factors that
affect residential energy consumption.
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1. Data Sources
The strategy used for this systematic review was an
extensive search of databases such as ‘Academic Search
Premier’, ‘Google Scholar’, ‘ERIC’, ‘Science Direct’, and
‘Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection’. The key
words entered for the search procedure were ‘energy’,
‘efficiency’, ‘residential’, ‘factors’, and ‘consumption’. In this
process various social, environmental, and psychological
journals (e.g., Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of
Environmental Psychology, The Journal of Consumer Affairs,
Energy Policy, etc.) were consulted. Further, reference lists of
all found articles were reviewed to identify additional published
material. This process was repeated till saturation.
2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
The entire search process resulted in more than 200
research studies. In order to be selected for the review, it was
decided that individual studies that refer to energy consumption
factors associated with specific problems will not be included.
Instead, studies that comment on broader perspectives would be
included. Additionally, the selection pool was restricted to
peer-reviewed articles only. The selection pool was further
restricted pertaining to qualitative or quantitative research
published since 1973, when the oil crisis drew the attention of
researchers. Further exclusion criteria employed were: all
articles that were published in languages other than English,
articles that were redundant and duplication of published
research, and articles that only contained discussion about a
single, individual factor associated with residential energy
consumption. There were fifty one studies in total that met these
criteria.
2.3. Data Extraction
After verification of a study’s eligibility for inclusion
within this review, study details such as name of the study,
authors, journal, research design, data collection and data
analysis methods, results, and conclusion were determined
informally by the researchers and are discussed in the text. All
details related to these studies were extracted by two
researchers and reviewed by another researcher before the final
analysis.
2.4. Data Synthesis
Data was synthesized to study qualitative research relevant
to residential energy consumption. The template used for this
synthesis was based on Guidelines for Critical Review Form -
Qualitative Studies developed by the McMaster University
Occupational Therapy Evidence-Based Practice Research
Group [4]. The broader topics of a published study that were
used for creating the data pool were study purpose, literature
review, study design and its appropriateness, data collection,
procedural rigor, data analysis, theoretical connections,
trustworthiness, and conclusions.
3. RESULTS
All the factors identified by the aforementioned literature
search procedures are being listed and described hereby.
3.1. Household Size
Household size simply refers to the number of people per
household. Many researchers argue that occupancy has the
strongest influence on variation in energy consumption [5-19].
To be more specific, Lenzen et. al.[11] indicated a negative
correlation between household size and energy consumption per
capita, which is due to household members simply sharing
consumer items.
3.2. Householders’ Age Structure
Householders’ age in this study refers to the age of the
head of household. It has a strong influence on the residential
energy requirement [11, 13, 14, 18-22]. The results of a
statistical analysis performed by Pachauri [14] indicate that
where the head of the household is in the age range of 25-29
years, the per capita energy requirement is about 7% higher
than where the household head is less than 25 years old. This
percentage increases to 13% when the household head is above
the age of 50 years. Much of the energy used by older people is
based on their health and comfort [23]. Some of the reasons
proposed for an increase in per capita energy consumption with
age are the lack of information and knowledge about energy
conservation and energy usage patterns, inertia to change, and
importance of well-being, which is controlled by health and
comfort.
3.3. Time Spent at Home
Energy consumption has a direct correlation with the
amount of time the dwelling is occupied. The more time a
person spends at home, the more energy he/she will consume
for day to day activities. According to Van Raaji & Verhallen
[19] young households without children and with both partners
working outside the home tend to have a lower level of energy
use when compared to families who either stay at home or work
from home. After the children grow up and move out, the
household energy consumption decreases, but increases again
with the age of the parents [7, 19]. This increase in energy use
in later years is due to a tendency of elderly people to spend
more time at home and an increasing need of higher indoor
temperatures to ensure health and comfort [22].
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3.4. Level of Urbanization
Urbanization is defined by the United Nations as the
movement of people from rural to urban areas with a population
growth equating to urban migration. Rapid urbanization causes
a rise in energy consumption per capita [5, 12, 14, 24-26]. With
an urbanization of lifestyle, the proportion of energy used for
cooking decreases, but the proportion of energy used for
recreation and comfort increases considerably.
3.5. Dwelling Size
Mileham and Brandt [23] have found that the size of a
dwelling is possibly the best predictor of money spent on
energy, since 21% of the variation in energy costs is attributed
to the size of the dwelling. According to Morrison and Gladhart
[21] the number of rooms in a dwelling contributes towards the
total energy consumption of a house. Obviously, the larger the
floor spaceof houses,the more energy is required for space
heating, cooling, and lighting.
3.6. Dwelling Type
Different types of dwellings include single family house,
town house, multi-family house, apartment, or even mobile
home. Single family detached homes are the most energy
intensive type of dwelling, consuming more BTU per household
than any other type [13, 27, 28].
3.7. Age and Characteristics of Dwelling
According to some researchers, an increase of vintage of a
dwelling relates to a considerably increased amount of energy
consumed for space heating or cooling [16, 20, 23]. Older
houses often lack energy efficiency, which would require capital
investment for incorporation of conservation measures, such as
insulation and storm windows. “Dwelling characteristics” refers
to the degree of home insulation, wind exposure, glazing,
efficiency of HVAC system, etc., which have a direct influence
on energy end use [15, 19, 29].
3.8. Education and Knowledge
A householder’s level of education appears to have an
impact on energy conservation beliefs and behaviors [36]. Junk
et. al. [20] observed in their research that higher education
levels of individuals’ resulted in lower energy consumption.
Other studies have also reported formal education as a factor
towards energy conservation [37]. Another study conducted in
1984 proved that people with higher levels of education were
more likely to engage in conservation measures for energy
efficiency [30, 31, 39-41]. This includes knowledge of energy
costs, energy usage, energy conservation behavior, and
consequence of these behaviors [19].
3.9. Inertia to Change
The inherent nature of people to be wary of investing in
the energy efficiency of their dwelling in spite of the probability
of receiving higher returns on investment reflects inertia to
change. Sometimes people fail to recognize the higher return on
investment in energy efficiency initiatives over time and give
way to investment with immediate gain [2].
3.10. Economic Condition
Economic growth has a strong influence on energy
consumption of a country [10]. A healthy economy is essential
to fulfill people’s needs and also to assure efficient distribution
of resources. Due to the increasing involvement of technology
in our day to day life, the economic system now decides the
consumption of technology and in turn affects the consumption
of energy [42].
3.11. Energy Price
Energy prices have an important influence on short term
and long term residential energy use. [9, 10, 15, 16, 43, 44].
Along with reductions in energy use, increased energy prices
also cause a shift in the type of energy used [15, 44].
Dzioubinski and Chipman [24] found that it is difficult to
estimate the effect of energy prices on residential energy
consumption in developing countries. This is because the
majority of energy consumed is via traditional fuels gathered
informally without any monetary expenditure, but mostly time
(e.g., gather fuel wood). Another study performed by Haas et.
al.[45] suggests that “small differences in energy prices do not
always have an impact on residential energy use. Only if the
price exceeds a certain threshold there is a reduction in energy
demand observable”.
3.12. Energy Efficient Equipment Affordability
Energy consumption in the residential sector can be parsed
into five major end uses: space heating, water heating, cooking,
lighting and electric appliances. Appliances can be further
broken down into refrigerators, clothes washers, dryers,
dishwashers and even TV. However, the magnitude of each end
use differs from country to country; for instance, in the United
States it is important to consider air conditioning as another
major end use. Appliance affordability refers to the cost of new
and improved appliances in accordance with the wage level of a
society. Appliance affordability is one of the leading causes for
increases in residential energy demand [8].
3.13. Weather and Climate Zone
In addition to the large number of human factors affecting
residential energy consumption, several studies have illustrated
the influence of weather variables on energy consumption and
on electricity demand in particular [6, 15, 29, 45, 46]. Weather
influences the heating and cooling degree-days, which are
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quantitative indices used by energy analysts when calculating
the impact of outdoor temperature on energy use in buildings
[47]. Every building has a minimum energy use temperature,
i.e. when the building is neither heated nor cooled, which is
called “balance point” for that building. Each degree deviation
from the balance point results in either heating or cooling of the
building. This deviation from the balance point is mainly due to
the atmospheric temperature [47]. Other weather related factors
that influences energy consumption are humidity, wind flow,
and number of sunny days [15].
3.14. Dwelling Microclimate
Microclimate refers to the local temperature around a
dwelling. An important reason for considering the microclimate
in building design is to minimize the building’s energy use [48].
It can be assumed that people living in the same local region
typically share a similar socio-economic and regional climatic
conditions, and also have access to similar technology.
However, differences of energy consumption observed across
similar individual dwellings within a region make it obvious
that a building’s micro climate has an additional influence on
the total amount of energy consumed. Small scale climate
patterns resulting from the influence of topography, urban
forms, water bodies, vegetation, etc. are known as
Microclimates.
3.15. Increased Use of Renewable Energy
The challenges of people who are predominantly residing
in rural areas with restricted access to modern forms of energy
can be ameliorated by the use of renewable energy[49].
Renewable energy technologies can be less expensive in terms
of operating cost when compared with the production and
transportation of conventional energy sources. Examples for
renewable technologies are solar water heating, off-grid
electrification with solar photovoltaic (PV), small-scale biomass
power and heat generation, biofuels, grid-connected and off-
grid wind power, small hydropower, geothermal power, and
methane utilization from urban and industrial waste[50]. The
main guiding factor for renewable energy in this context is
initial equipment and installation cost, mostly driven by
technology and market development.
4. ANALYSIS
The energy consumption factors identified above can be
grouped under four broader categories based on their
prevalence. Some of the factors fall under one of the categories,
while there are considerable numbers that fall under two or even
more. In the following section the four broad categories are
briefly explained.
4.1. Demographics
Existing literature categorizes certain energy consumption
factors like household size, dwelling size, time spent at home,
level of urbanization, householders’ age, dwelling age and
characteristics, and dwelling type as household demographic
characteristics [8, 13, 16]. In a study concerning “300 Families’
Home Energy Use” conducted by Morrison and Gladhart [21],
the most significant determinants of household energy
consumption were: family size, age distribution, the number of
wage-earners in the household, and the occupancy time in the
house, which also falls into household demographic
characteristics.
4.2. Consumer Attitude
Consumer attitude has a profound influence on energy end
use. Just as energy consumption depends on the determinants
such as income, dwelling size, dwelling type, and dwelling
characteristics, attitude, knowledge, positive experience,
culture and social status are also important determinants of
energy use by an individual or a group [18]. The factors like
inertia to change, and education and knowledge, placed under
this category depend on the nature or characteristics of the
particular individual or group.
4.3. Economic Variables
Factors like economic condition, energy price, and energy
efficient equipment affordability are grouped under this
category. According to previous studies the most important
economic variables influencing residential energy consumption
are total household income [8, 51, 52], energy prices [8, 15],
and energy efficiency equipment prices [10].
4.4. Climate
Day-to-day habits and practices of consumers originate to
some extent from the climate they experience in their native
places. Several national level and regional level studies have
been conducted in the United States to determine how energy
use in the residential building stock relates to climate [53-59].
The factors influencing residential energy consumption grouped
under climate category are weather, dwelling microclimate, and
atmospheric temperature.
5. CONCLUSION
This systematic analysis adds a holistic view of the
influence of human behavior as well as some non-human causes
such as weather, energy price etc on energy consumption to the
existing body of knowledge. The research successfully performs
an analysis of identifying factors that have contributed to
residential energy consumption. Based on the aforementioned
discussion, it is clearly implicated that in order to optimize
energy efficiency and to effectively control the use of household
energy, concrete measures are warranted. These measures
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would assume an interdisciplinary approach by addressing a
variety of human and non-human factors that play a vital role in
household energy consumption. Future researchers should
conduct in depth qualitative analyses to quantify the factors that
could possibly affect household energy consumption and could
affect energy efficiency. Policymakers should meticulously
consider various multiple strategies to improve energy
efficiency and alleviate the steady increment in modern
household energy consumption. Leadership is needed by
organizations like American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy to help reduce household energy consumption and to
optimize energy efficiency by assisting in the development of
best practices and policies. This can be accomplished by the
maneuvering of a variety of political, social, cultural,
individual, and economic influences on household energy
consumption.
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Copyright © 2011 by ASME

APPENDIX
No. Research Title Author Year Study Target Area Factor Identified
1 Factors Affecting Residential
Heating Energy Consumption
J. Donovan,
W. Fischer 1976 Household energy
consumption
Dwelling size, age of dwelling, income,
energy price, eco-consciousness,
technological improvement
2 Energy and Families: The Crisis and
the Response
B. Morrison,
P. Gladhart 1976 Household energy
consumption
Income, householder age, household size,
dwelling size, housing type, equipment
used, eco consciousness
3
Residential Energy Use and
Conservation in Denmark, 1965-
1980
L. Schipper 1983
Residential energy
consumption for heating
home and water in
Denmark
Energy price, income
4 Home Energy Use in Nine OECD
Countries
L. Schipper,
A. Ketoff 1983 Comparison of home
energy consumption
Income, energy price, dwelling size,
weather, dwelling characteristics
5 A Behavioral Model of Residential
Energy Use
W. Van Raaij,
T. Verhallen 1983 Household energy
consumption
Technological improvement, lifestyle,
housing type (S/M), dwelling
characteristics, income, household size, age,
eco-consciousness, weather, urbanization,
energy price
6 An Update on Econometric Studies
of Energy Demand Behavior
D. Bohi,
M. Zimmerman 1984 Energy consumption vs.
energy price Energy price
7 Energy in American Homes: Change
and Prospects
S. Meyers,
L. Schipper 1984 Household energy
consumption Weather, housing type
8 Residential Energy Use and
Conservation in Sweden L. Schipper 1984 Household energy
consumption in Sweden
Energy price, income, dwelling size,
household size, lifestyle (indoor
temperature), equipments used, housing
type (S/M)
9 Personal and Contextual Influences
on Household Energy Adaptations
J. Black,
P. Stern,
J. Elworth
1985 Household energy
consumption
Attitudes, culture, indoor temperature
setting, dwelling characteristics, energy
price
10
Residential Energy Consumption in
Low-Income and Elderly
Households: How Nondiscretionary
Is It
M. Brown,
P. Rollinson 1985
Low income and elderly
household energy
consumption
Household size, eco-consciousness
11
Explaining Residential Energy Use
by International Bottom-Up
Comparisons
L. Schipper,
A. Ketoff,
A. Kahane
1985 Household energy
consumption
Lifestyle, dwelling characteristics,
equipment availability, indoor temperature,
energy price, household size, type of fuels,
dwelling size, technology improvement
12 Impacts of Energy Audits on Home
Energy Consumption
V. Junk,
W. Junk,
J. Jones
1987 Household energy
consumption
Eco-consciousness, income, dwelling
characteristics, type of fuel used, age,
dwelling age, housing type (s/m)
13
Personality Variables and
Environmental Attitudes as
Predictors of Ecologically
Responsible Consumption Patterns
I. Balderjahn 1988 Household energy
consumption
Attitude, education, dwelling
characteristics, household expenditure
14 Linking Lifestyle and Energy Use: A
Matter of Time?
L. Schipper,
S. Bartlett,
D. Hawk,
E. Vine
1989 Household energy
consumption
Income, energy price, dwelling size,
dwelling characteristics, dwelling age,
household size, equipment ownership
15
Influence of Income on Energy
Beliefs and Behaviors of Urban
Elderly
C. Mileham,
J. Brandt 1990 Household energy
consumption of elderly
Income, dwelling size, household size, age
of dwelling
16
The Structure and Intensity of
Energy Use: Trends in Five OECD
Nations
R. Howarth,
L. Schipper,
B. Andersson
1992 Overall energy
consumption Lifestyle, income, technology available
8
Copyright © 2011 by ASME

No. Research Title Author Year Study Target Area Factor Identified
17
Effect of Thermal Improvements in
Housing on Residential Energy
Demand
L. Hsueh,
J. Gerner 1993 Energy savings from
home improvement Weather, income, dwelling size
18
Measuring Energy Efficiency in the
United States' Economy: A
Beginning
DOE 1995 Household energy
consumption in US
Housing type (S/M), dwelling size,
dwelling characteristics, weather
19
The Direct and Indirect Energy
Requirements of Households in the
Netherlands
K. Vringer,
K. Blok 1995
Household energy
consumption in
Netherlands
Income, education, leisure
20
Lifestyle Change and Energy Use in
Japan: Household Equipment and
Energy Consumption
H. Nakagami 1996 Household energy
consumption Income, lifestyle, dwelling size
21
A Cross-Cultural Analysis of
Household Energy Use Behaviour
in Japan and Norway
H. Wilhite,
H. Nakagami,
T. Masuda,
Y. Yamaga,
H. Haneda
1996 Household energy
consumption
Dwelling size, eco-consciousness, lifestyle,
weather, cultural attitudes, income
22
Energy Efficiency Indicators in the
Residential Sector: What Do We
Know and What Has to be Ensured?
R. Haas 1997 Household energy
consumption
Household size, householder age, energy
price, equipment price, income, eco-
consciousness, equipments used, dwelling
size, weather
23 Some Reflections on Barriers to the
Efficient Use of Energy L. Weber 1997 Household energy
consumption Eco-consciousness
24
Rural Household Energy
Consumption: The Effects of Access
to Electricity -Evidence from South
Africa
M. Davis 1998 Rural household energy
consumption Income
25
The Impact of Consumer Behavior
on Residential Energy Demand for
Space Heating
R. Haas,
H. Auer,
P. Biermayr
1998 Household energy
consumption
Availability of fuel, energy price, indoor
temperature, weather
26
Climatic and Economic Influences
on Residential Electricity
Consumption
J. Lam 1998 Household electricity
consumption
Income, household size, weather, energy
price
27
Reducing Household Energy
Consumption: A Qualitative and
Quantitative Field Study
G. Brandon,
A. Lewis 1999 Household energy
consumption
Income, socio-demographics,
environmental attitudes, information
28
Trends in Consumption and
Production: Household Energy
Consumption
O. Dzioubinski,
R. Chipman 1999 Household energy
consumption
Energy price, equipment price, income,
availability of fuel, availability of
equipment
29 Estimating the Electricity Savings
Effect of Ceiling Insulation
E. Mathews,
M. Kleingeld,
P. Taylor
1999 Household energy
consumption Dwelling characteristics
30 Energy Consumption in the Islamic
Republic of Iran
A.Bakhtiari,
F. Shahbudaghlou 2000 Energy consumption in
Iran
Income, household size, urbanization,
energy price
31
Factors Influencing Water Heating
Energy Use and Peak Demand in a
Large Scale Residential Monitoring
Study
M. Bouchelle,
D. Parker,
M. Anello
2000 Household water
heating energy use Weather, household size
2
Architectural, Demographic, and
Economic Causes of Electricity
Consumption in Bombay
P. Tiwari 2000
Household energy
consumption in
Bombay, India
Income, energy price, dwelling size,
dwelling characteristics, dwelling age,
household size
33 The Uses of Energy in the Domestic
Sector J. Andrade 2001 Household energy
consumption
Time spent at home, dwelling
characteristics, information and knowledge,
household size, householders age
9
Copyright © 2011 by ASME

No. Research Title Author Year Study Target Area Factor Identified
34
Norwegian Residential Electricity
Demand -A Microeconomic
Assessment of the Growth from
1976 to 1993
B. Halvorsen,
B. Larsen 2001 Household electricity
consumption in Norway
Household size, equipments used, income,
dwelling size, energy price
35
Behavioral Factors Study of
Residential Users Which Influence
the Energy Consumption
I. Blasco Lucas,
E. Hidalgo,
G. Gomez,
R. Rosés
2001 Household energy
consumption
Household size, householder age, time
spend at home
36
Demographic Determinants of
Household Energy Use in the
United States
B. O'Neill,
B. Chen 2002 Household energy
consumption in US Householder age, household size
37
The Direct and Indirect Energy
Requirement of Households in the
European Union
A. Reinders,
K. Vringer,
K. Blok
2003
Household energy
consumption in EU
countries
Lifestyle, weather, culture, dwelling
characteristics
38 A Study of Domestic Energy Usage
Patterns in Hong Kong
G. Tso,
K. Yau 2003 Household energy
consumption
Weather, dwelling characteristics, dwelling
size, income, household size, equipment
used
39
Household Consumption:
Influences of Aspiration Level,
Social Comparison, and Money
Management
N. Karlsson,
P. Dellgran,
B. Klingander,
T. Gärling
2004 Household energy
consumption Income, eco-consciousness
40 Energy Requirements of Sydney
Households
M. Lenzen,
C. Dey,
B. Foran
2004 Household energy
consumption in Sydney
Household size, income, household age and
urbanization
41
An Analysis of Cross-Sectional
Variation in Total Household
Energy Requirement in India Using
Micro Survey Data
S. Pachauri 2004 Household energy
consumption
Income, weather, urbanization, household
size, lifestyle, householder age
42 Energy Requirements of
Households in Brazil
C. Cohen,
M. Lenzen,
R. Schaeffer
2005 Household energy
consumption in Brazil Income
43
Study on Affecting Factors and
Standard of Rural Household
Energy Consumption in China
W. Xiaohua,
F. Zhenmin 2005 Rural household energy
consumption in China Income, annual temperature
44
The Effects of Household
Characteristics and Energy Use
Consciousness on the Effectiveness
of Real-Time Energy Use Feedback:
A Pilot Study
D. Allen,
K. Janda 2006 Household energy
consumption
Income, energy monitoring system, eco-
consciousness
45
A Comparative Multivariate
Analysis of Household Energy
Requirements in Australia, Brazil,
Denmark, India, and Japan
M. Lenzen,
M. Wier,
C. Cohen,
H. Hayami,
S. Pachauri,
R. Schaeffer
2006 Household energy
consumption
Income, household size, housing type
(S/M), urbanization
46
Socioeconomic Factors Affecting
Household Energy Consumption in
Qom, Iran
E. Mehrzad,
A. Masoud,
E. Mansour
2007 Household energy
consumption in Iran Eco-consciousness, urbanization
47 Household Energy Requirement and
Value Patterns
K. Vringer,
T. Aalbers,
K. Blok
2007 Household energy
consumption Eco-consciousness
48
Energy-Related Intervention
Success Factors: A Literature
Review
D.Uitdenbogerd,
C. Egmond,
R. Jonkers,
G. Kok
2007 Household energy
consumption
Household size, income, householder age,
dwelling characteristics, technological
improvement, eco-consciousness, lifestyle
10
Copyright © 2011 by ASME

No. Research Title Author Year Study Target Area Factor Identified
49
Short-Term Prediction of Household
Electricity Consumption: Assessing
Weather Sensitivity in a
Mediterranean Area
M. Beccali,
M. Cellura,
V. Lo Brano,
A. Marvuglia
2008 Household electricity
consumption Weather
50
Changing of Energy Consumption
Pattern from Rural Households to
Urban Households in China: An
Example from Shaanxi Province,
China
J. Cai,
Z. Jiang 2008
Rural and urban
household energy
consumption
Urbanization
51 The Household Energy Transition in
India and China
S. Pachauri,
L. Jiang 2008
Rural and urban
household energy
consumption
Income, energy price, urbanization
11
Copyright © 2011 by ASME