Working Paper Series,
Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance

Abstract: Smart meters and in-house displays hold a promise of energy conservation for those who invest in such technology. Research has shown that households only have a limited interest in such technology and information is thus often neglected, with rather limited energy savings. Surprisingly few empirical investigations have a theoretical foundation that may explain what is going on from a behavioral perspective. In this study the economic theory of self-control is used to model energy-efficient behavior in middle-income households in Sweden. Our results show that different levels of energy-efficient behavior do not really have any impact on the actual consumption levels of electricity. Instead, different beliefs exist of being energy-efficient, but the households do not act accordingly. Our results suggest that the payment time period should be changed to stimulate the monitoring of bills and to introduce a gaming strategy to change incentives for energy conservation.

Keywords: Energy use; Energy efficient; In-house displays; mediation model; smart meters; two-level time series

JEL-codes: C11; C81; D12; R22

19 pages, March 28, 2019

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