Abstract
This paper provides an analysis of the appliance ownership and use factors contributing to high electrical energy demand in UK homes. The data were collected during a large-scale, city-wide survey, carried out in Leicester, UK, in 2009–2010. Annual electricity consumption and appliance ownership and use were established for 183 dwellings and an odds ratio analysis used to identify the factors that led to high electricity consumption. Many of the appliance ownership and use factors have not previously been studied for the UK domestic sector. The results of this study should be of key interest to government policy makers and energy supply companies interested in the underlying drivers of the highly positively skewed distribution of UK domestic electricity use. The study identifies those appliances that could be targeted for technical improvements or subjected to campaigns to encourage more energy efficient use in order to reduce electricity consumption among high demand households. This paper builds on earlier work by the current authors which identified the households (socio-demographic and dwelling characteristics) most likely to be high electricity consumers. The current work provides the basis for advice and guidance to those households that would enable them to, over time, reduce their electricity use.
Highlights
The UK domestic sector has experienced a general year-on-year rise in electricity use of around 1% since 1970
The Odds ratio (OR) analysis was undertaken for 10 subgroups of appliance types (IT, telephony, entertainment, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), small cooking, preservation and cooling, washing, laundry, building and outdoor maintenance and hygiene, beauty and leisure appliances), 15 individual appliance types and 17 appliance use patterns
The total for all number of homes across all ownership levels is 183, because all households provided a response to that part of the appliance survey
Summary
The UK domestic sector has experienced a general year-on-year rise in electricity use of around 1% since 1970 This expansion has been attributed to the increased ownership and use of electrical appliances [1]. The increase in electricity consumption for appliance use in the UK has been dramatic, increasing 211% from 1970 to 2011; an annual average growth rate of nearly 3% [1] This has resulted in appliances’ share of total domestic energy use increasing from less than 5% in 1970 to 13.9% in 2011. This large growth has been attributed to increased ownership of appliances and increased use of appliances with, in particular, a greater use of cold appliances to store food [1]. The expansion of electricity consumption for appliances in the home is widely expected to continue [4,5,6]
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