Abstract
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the UK Government provided public health advice to stay at home from 16 March 2020, followed by instruction to stay at home (full lockdown) from 24 March 2020. We use data with high temporal resolution from utility sensors installed in 280 homes across social housing in Cornwall, UK, to test for changes in domestic electricity, gas and water usage in response to government guidance. Gas usage increased by 20% following advice to stay at home, the week before full lockdown, although no difference was seen during full lockdown itself. During full lockdown, morning electricity usage shifted to later in the day, decreasing at 6 a.m. and increasing at midday. These changes in energy were echoed in water usage, with a 17% increase and a one-hour delay in peak morning usage. Changes were consistent with people getting up later, spending more time at home and washing more during full lockdown. Evidence for these changes was also observed in later lockdowns, but not between lockdowns. Our findings suggest more compliance with an enforced stay-at-home message than with advice. We discuss implications for socioeconomically disadvantaged households given the indication of inability to achieve increased energy needs during the pandemic.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with 3.1 million deaths worldwide [1,2], as of 26 April 2021, and has caused significant disruption to individuals, societies and economies [3]
Changes in domestic utility usage patterns can be used to test for evidence of behavioural changes in response to the government guidance to stay at home
Our hypotheses were: (1) increases in utility usages in 2020 compared with 2019, with any changes being smaller in the advice period than the instruction period; (2) differences in utility usage at different times of day, regardless of behavioural responses to the COVID-19 guidance; and (3) changes across years to interact with hour of the day
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with 3.1 million deaths worldwide [1,2], as of 26 April 2021, and has caused significant disruption to individuals, societies and economies [3]. In an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, the UK Government provided public health guidance, from 3 March 2020 onwards, to stay at home and to increase the frequency and duration of handwashing [4,5,6]. Prime Minister to stay at home from the evening of 16 March 2020 (advice period) [4]. A week later, the first full lockdown came into force on the evening of 23 March 2020, when people were instructed to stay at home (instruction period). Reduction in virus transmission rates is reliant on individuals’ compliance with the government guidance. Other than a reduction in transmission rates, there are few sources of evidence of compliance. Changes in domestic utility usage patterns can be used to test for evidence of behavioural changes in response to the government guidance to stay at home
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