ARTICLE IN PRESS

Energy Policy 34 (2006) 19181927

www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

Efcient and inefcient aspects of residential energy behaviour:

What are the policy instruments for change?
Anna-Lisa Lindena,, Annika Carlsson-Kanyamab, Bjorn Erikssonb
a

Department of Sociology, Lund University, P.O. Box 114, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
Department of Environmental Strategies Research, FOI, SE-172 90 Stockholm, Sweden

Available online 14 March 2005

Abstract
The empirical part of this study is based on a survey of 600 Swedish households and a number of interviews where questions about
residential energy behaviour and possible policy instruments for change were raised. The study provides insight into current
behavioural patterns and gives a bottom-up perspective on the realistic perspective potentials for change and ways to achieve them.
Residential energy use accounts for a fth of the total in Northern nations and patterns of behaviour may inuence levels of energy
use to the same extent as choice of appliances. The study revealed those behavioural patterns that are efcient and those that need to
be improved for energy conservation. Several policy instruments for change were identied in the study and they include
combinations of information, economic measures, administrative measures and more user friendly technology as well as equipment
with sufcient esthetic quality. Policy instruments that have fostered energy efcient behaviour in Sweden include the massive
information campaigns during the oil crises in the 1970s as well as energy labelling of appliances. Still, many households are
energy-unaware and several energy efcient behaviours are motivated not by energy conservation concern but of a perceived lack
of time. This shows that it is important to have a broad perspective in energy conservation, to evaluate trends and to use policy
instruments timely to support or discourage them.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Environmental awareness; Energy attitudes; Energy efcient behaviour; Households

1. Introduction
As residential energy use commonly accounts for
about a fth of the total nal energy consumption in
OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development) countries (IEA, 2003) and as the levels of
electricity use is steadily increasing (IEA, 2001), it is well
warranted to discuss and implement policy measures for
reducing residential energy consumption. Regulatory
instruments inuencing building efciency standards
and the introduction of labels on certain appliances are
measures to this end that many countries have adopted
(IEA, 2000; IEA, 2002). As it has been shown that
behaviour affects residential energy use to the same
Corresponding author. Tel.: +4646 222 8834; fax: +4646 222 4794.

E-mail address: anna-lisa.linden@soc.lu.se (A.-L. Linden).

0301-4215/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2005.01.015

extent as more efcient equipment and appliances

(Glaumann, 1996; Shanahan and Jonsson, 1995; Palmborg, 1986) and that household behaviour may vary to
such an extent that residential energy use differs by a
factor of two, even when the equipment and appliances
are identical (Palmborg, 1986; Berntsson, 2003; GramHansen, 2003), it is also of interest to discuss policy
instruments for behavioural change. Examples of
behaviour relevant in this context is the degree to which
households bathe or take showers, turn of lights in
unused rooms, ll dishwashers or washing machines
before putting them on, regulate indoor temperatures or
put lids on pots when cooking their food.
Various studies involving the application of energy
information with feedback directly tied to peoples own
behaviour have shown that such a measure can be quite
efcient for lowering residential energy use (Gardner

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and Stern, 1996; Berntsson, 2003; Staats and Harland,

1995; Widegren-Dafgard, 1991). These are results from
experimental situations or from practice and the more
targeted the information is, the more efcient it appears
to be. However, information is but one possible policy
instrument for behavioural change and as the potential
for improving behaviour is by no means fully exploited
further research seems warranted.
The aim of this article is to take a broad look at
possible policy measures and their combinations for
lowering residential energy behaviour based on recent
empirical evidence from households and a theoretical
perspective on the processes of policy implementation.
The empirical material comes from a survey in a
Swedish city where various behaviours affecting energy
use were in focus as well as the possible policy
instruments for change proposed by the households
themselves. The theoretical overview comes from the
literature. We start by giving the theoretical perspective
on the policy implementation process, then present the
empirical material after which we conclude about
possible ways ahead when it comes to implementing a
higher energy efciency in residences through changes in
behaviour and efcient use of policy instruments.

2. Theoretical perspectives on policy implementation

processes
The intention with policy instruments is to inuence
processes in a way that leads to more careful use of
resources, a more environmentally friendly (EF) behaviour or decisions where environmental impacts will be
reduced. The instruments promoting such a development can be a single measure addressing dened groups.
In Sweden, information campaigns about energy saving
behaviour addressing households have been used during
a number of periods since the oil crisis in the middle of
the 1970s. Taxing fossil fuels is another example of an
economic measure addressing all drivers of motorized
vehicles using gasoline. Laws regulating the emission of
CO2 from production processes and physical measures
like the construction of bumps in streets to inuence
drivers to drive slowly are other types of policy
measures. Four main categories of policy instruments
can be identied namely, information, economic,
administrative and physical instruments (Linden and
Carlsson-Kanyama, 2002).
Every form of policy instrument used to promote a
behavioural change establishes a relation between at
least two actors. The content of a dened measure serves
as a communication message from the sender to the
receiver. These can be two persons or a relation between
an authority and an industry. It is almost always the
partner receiving information, economic measures or
control programmes who makes decisions about

Instrument
Information
Economic instruments
Administrative instruments
Physical improvements

1919

Influence
voluntary
catalytic
immediate, forcing
reminding, repeating

Effect
slow
short-range
middle-range
change habits

Fig. 1. Policy instruments, inuence on actors and effects. (Linden,

2001).

whether to change behaviour or not (Linden, 2001).

The receiver, e.g. an industry, a household or a private
person, thus becomes extremely important, as he/she is a
decision-maker. On the other hand, the sender, the
authority, must do his/her best to argue for measures
and, not least, inspire and motivate the receiver to
accept the arguments and develop a strategy to improve
efciency in technology and/or behaviour within his/her
organization. Four groups of policy instruments can be
identied namely, information, economic, administrative and physical improvements (Fig. 1). Policy instruments, are often used in various combinations to
increase efciency (Helby et al., 1999; Jordan et al.,
2003).
Information represents several aspects of knowledge
mediation. Written information in pamphlets and
advertisements is most often used. Other policy instruments belonging to this group are environmental
awards, and labelling of products. The common
denominator for all of them is that they should attract
attention. The receiver of information is supposed to
notice and benet from the new arguments voluntarily
and change or strengthen attitudes. Even if a campaign
is very intensive, and uses several forms of media, the
effect in terms of new attitudes and changed behaviour
takes time to register (Dexter, 1964; Windahl and
Signitzer, 1992; Henryson et al., 2000). As a policy
instrument, the effects of information appears gradually
over quite a long time span.
Economic instruments include taxing, pricing, trade in
emissions, subsidies, discounts and reducing interest
rates on investments. Reduction of interest rates, for
example, was used in the middle of the 1970s when
households were repairing their houses in an energy
saving direction. The policy instruments always have a
xed starting date. Changes in actors behaviour are
checked frequently and reported directly to the authorities. Economic instruments function as catalysts for
changes in the future. They motivate actors to actively
watch and plan their behaviour in an efcient way
(Linden, 2004). One step in energy saving undertaken by
a house owner is often followed by an increasing
awareness and plans for other energy saving measures
in the household. It is possible to nd very efcient
economic measures. However, in the same way as
informational measures, they have to be repeated by
new measures to remind the actor of energy saving
arguments.

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A.-L. Linden et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 19181927

Administrative instruments have an immediate effect

on all the actors they are intended to affect from an
announced date. Deviant behaviour is punished with
negative sanctions, which are usually known to the
deviators in advance, for example, as a ne. As is the
case with economic policy instruments, the authorities
are responsible not only for the introduction of these
instruments but also for the observance of the laws. The
affected parties just have to obey. Instruments belonging
to this group are environment quality norms, emission
limits for CO2, restrictions of trade, permits, prohibitions, and legislated regulations.
Physical improvements, e.g. construction of energy
metres for stoves, are intended to facilitate a new pattern
of behaviour. Energy metres function as an immediate
feedback on effects of individual behaviour, which easily
can be understood by lay people (Shanahan and
Jonsson, 1995). Such improvements are very often
combined with some other instrument pushing the
behaviour in the same direction, e.g. reduced fees on
energy use for households with that kind of equipment.
All four groups of instruments share a top-down
perspective and are intended to motivate an actor to
change routines or behaviour by external means. That
means that they are formulated, established, controlled,
and evaluated by an authority on behalf of national
policy decisions. Those affected by the instruments have
to accept them as far as economic, administrative and
physical instruments are concerned. Information as an
instrument represents an exception as there is usually no
control over the receivers and their behaviour. Topdown perspectives have the disadvantage of getting an
immediate result, but seldom inspiration for long-term
reconsideration of behaviour and routines by the
receiver (Linden, 1994a, b, 1996). From a motivational
perspective, new routines are forced upon the receiver,
which now and then may provoke him/her to nd
solutions to get rid of the rules and its consequences in
his sector of responsibility.
Internal motivational factors refer to actors0 sociopsychological factors. In developing environmental
awareness, the environmental effects of behaviour and
consumption must be known. However, to process such
knowledge, an actor must already have a set of values
for environmental issues. Values indicate a wider and
more general set of attitudes (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980).
Attitude, on the other hand, represents a view about and
an evaluation of a specied phenomenon. Most often
there is some correspondence between values and
attitudes, but when attitudes are specied and close to
personal behaviour, divergences often become more
frequent (Biel, 2003). In our study of energy efcient
behaviour in households, we found that although
respondents had a high environmental awareness their
behaviour could be very energy efcient as well as
inefcient when other reasons for a specied behaviour

were scored as more important (Carlsson-Kanyama et

al., 2003).
It is not always so that knowledge, values and
attitudes in sequential order lead to behavioural change
(Linden, 1994a, b). On the contrary, behaviour performed more or less haphazardly may end in a change of
values and/or attitudes or strengthen those already
existing (Biel, 2003). Both ways of bringing about
behavioural change, either by improved knowledge or
simplifying the practice, are important. Another important aspect is connected with signals of lifestyle and
the impression behaviour makes on other actors. It has
been shown that actors who are concerned about the
environment also tend to perform a set of EF
behaviours (Linden, 1994; Klintman, 2000), while other
types of behaviour are invisible, e.g. buying green
electricity, a practice which is very rare in Sweden
(Linden and Klintman, 2003). Visible consumption and
behaviour rapidly denotes a green identity. When
authorities sanction a certain type of behaviour, the
processes of identity formation tend to be accelerated
(Popenoe, 1983). Thus the degree of visibility of
behaviour and its relationship to identity formation
and image is of importance for behaviour.
Voluntary agreements are considered as an instrument where reciprocal communication is needed. To be
able to formulate agreements there is a need for
creativity provided by both partners. Voluntary agreements require a continuous communication process
(Dexter, 1964; McQuail, 1987; Schramm, 1961). This is
a horizontal process where both partners represent the
same share of importance (Linden and CarlssonKanyama, 2000; Jordan et al., 2003). The role of the
sender differs from top-down processes as the communication includes phases of initiating, advising, supporting, and evaluating innovations and behaviour of the
receiver (Fig. 2). The latter, on the other hand,
formulates goals and measures adjusted to the assumptions and the situation in its organization. Both partners
are supposed to agree on the goals, the ways to handle
strategies, reporting periods and report contents, ways
to handle, reformulate or reduce divergences from goals
Formulating goals
Reporting

Receiver

Sender

Initiating
Formulating
goals
Advising
Supporting
Fig. 2. Use of policy instruments in a communication process. (Linden
and Carlsson-Kanyama, 2002).

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and strategies, and dene evaluation variables in terms

of methodology, statistics or qualitative measures. The
receiver, on the other hand, is supposed to propose
goals, and strategies, and to regularly report on the
outcome. Thus the roles of both partners are different
from those knit to other policy instruments with a topdown perspective. The partners in a communication
process act as both sender and receiver during the
progress of the programme. As a consequence, the time
allocation must in one way or another differ from
situations where top-down policy instruments are used.
On the other hand, certain studies indicate clear
efciency advantages in bottom-up. As a broader
knowledge pool is involved in participatory bottom-up
procedures, certain scholars argue that the feedback
loop may actually be shortened, i.e., the distance and
time between decisions, action, effect, observation, and
reconsideration in public action. Accordingly, these
specic experiments reect a nimble style of collective
action that can quickly recognize and respond to
erroneous or ineffective strategies (Fung and Olin
Wright, 2001, p. 26).
The relations between sender and receiver when using
voluntary agreements as a policy instrument are
different from those that apply when other instruments
are used. The planned communication between partners
is a conversation where questions and answers during
the phases of the energy efciency programme widen the
base of knowledge and hopefully increase the ambitions
of the local partner (Windahl and Signitzer, 1992).
Feedback is extremely important in processes like this
and can be achieved in a number of ways, e.g. in direct
communication, through educational activities, indicators, and visits. The feedback can also be given in a
general format valid for all partners in the programme
by indicators, papers, awards or network meetings.
Although initiatives to feedback activities are usually
initiated by the sender, they can just as well be proposed
by partners. In that way, the sender is provoked to be a
sensitive listener, rather than the expert and controller
exclusively. In our study, a large number of households

1921

were asked for communication with local energy

companies.
Using top-down or horizontal communication strategies in implementing a national policy is an important
choice for the efciency of the measure used. There are
several factors to take into consideration in the
implementation process, e.g. the policy goal, dened
actors, measures in relation to actors and the evaluation
process (Jordan et al., 2003; Linden, 2004). In cases
where the measures have to be different in relation to
actors in the production and consumption chain a
vertical, top-down, strategy could be effective (Fig. 3). A
national aim for energy production and consumption is
to lower the level of CO2 emissions. The energy
production companies are addressed from governmental
authorities with a policy instrument taxing their CO2
emissions. The economic measure, taxing, is the message
from the government to the actor to bring about a
change of decisions and behaviour. However, taxing
CO2 would probably not be the right way to address
households as actors in energy consumption. Measures
appropriate to the household situation are information,
inspection and advice, bonus programs etc., motivating
a closer awareness on consequences for energy use from
personal behaviour. Other actors in the consumption
phase, e.g. owners of dwellings in multi-occupancy
blocks could be addressed by voluntary agreements
informing and reducing interest rates for introducing
new energy saving technology (Fig. 3).
However, policy measures can also be communicated
in horizontal policy processes. A national goal of
reducing CO2 emissions is quantitatively dened, but
all actors cannot reduce their emissions with the same
share during the dened time period. A national
authority using a voluntary agreement strategy hands
over the responsibility for the formulation of local goals
to a number of addressed actors (Fig. 4). The goals
formulated have to be dened in such way that a share
of the national goal can be addressed. In the horizontal
strategy the goal is dened with the same variables for
all actors addressed, but the proposed levels to be

Phase

Actors addressed

Policy measures

Energy production

Energy company

Economic instrument: Taxing CO2

Distribution

Distributors

Informative instruments: Advice, information

Consumption

Owners of multioccupancy dwellings

Informative instruments: Technical advice,

education
Economic instruments: Reducing interest rates

Consumption

Households

Informative instruments: information,

inspection routines
Economic instruments: Bonus programs

Fig. 3. A vertical communication process including policy measures for lowering residential energy use.

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A.-L. Linden et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 19181927

Actors addressed
Policy measures
__________________________________________________________________________
Pulp industry
Economic instruments: Investment programmes
Informative instruments: Education, efficient behaviour

Transportation companies

Informative instruments: ECO-driving education

Economic instruments: Investment program for hybrid
technology, reduced interest rates

Public office buildings

Informative measures: Education, behaviour, use routines,

awards
Physical measures: Heating, cooling, ventilation program

.. .
XX firms
___________________________________________________________________________
Fig. 4. A horizontal communication process including policy measures.

achieved during time periods are set taking local factors

into consideration.
In implementing national policy there are a number of
crucial obstacles to take into consideration to be
efcient in reaching dened goals. The national goal
has to be dened in a way so it is possible to evaluate
with quantitative and qualitative measures. The proper
actor has to be dened and communicated with relevant
policy measures. The better the knowledge about the
addressed actors and, relevant policy measures the
better will the result and goal achievement be in the
end. The policy strategy has to be chosen either as a
vertical top-down process or as a horizontal process,
where at least some share of responsibility for goal
formulation is handed over to the addressed actors.
In our study, one aim was to identify gaps of
knowledge about energy efcient behaviour in households and measures that could not only increase
knowledge but also motivate for awareness and change
of behaviour in a more energy efcient way. The results
have been analysed from the theoretical perspectives of
communicating national policy presented above.

3. Methods and materials for the empirical part of the

study
For this survey, a questionnaire with 69 questions was
mailed to households in one of the major Swedish cities.
The questionnaire included background information
about the respondents and the household, a set of
questions about environmental attitudes and ve
sections of questions about behaviour related to the
functional areas nutrition, cleanliness, entertainment
and information and domestic heating and lighting. The
questions about behaviour were selected based on
commonly found recommendations to households for

more energy-efcient practices at home, issued by

policymakers and affecting use of hot water and energy
for heating (e.g. STEM, 2003; Swedish Consumer
Agency, 2003). Such recommendations include avoiding
laundry by removing stains or airing, using dishwashers
and washing machines when they are fully loaded and
avoiding rinsing dishes before putting them into the
dishwasher. Others are to shower instead of bathing in
the bathtub, to lower indoor temperatures at night, to
turn off lights when leaving a room and to pull down
blinds at night.
In designing the sample we wanted to collect an
empirical material as rich as possible of relevant
material in relation to the research problem rather than
representativeness in relation to the population. This
means that we decided to sample households instead of
individuals. In Sweden, there is no register of households. However, energy companies have records of their
costumers living in different types of dwellings. We
already knew from other studies generational differences
in energy attitudes and behaviour as well as differences
between households living in apartments and detached
houses (Linden 1996, 2001). For sampling households,
we used a large number of addresses obtained from a
supplier of electricity and district heating in the city.
This supplier also had records of the birth year of the
household member paying the electricity bills and a fair
idea of whether the addresses were located in areas with
mainly apartments or detached houses. Within each age
group and type of housing we sampled a number of
households which extended the number we expected in
each group to be able to cover refusals. The target of
collecting questionnaires from 600 households divided
into six groups of equal numbers was reached. These
groups were dened by the age of the respondent and
the dwelling type of the household. The age groups were
2535 years (young), 3649 years old (middle-aged) and

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5060 years old (older people). The dwelling types were

apartments and private houses. Respondents younger
than 25 years of age and older than 60 years were
excluded from the survey as they are commonly either
studying or retired and therefore their habits may differ
too much from people in their working ages. In the
sample, 49% of the respondents were women and 51%
were men, the mean age was 43 years, 74% of the
respondents worked part time, 10% worked half time
and 13% did not work at all. The way of sampling
guarantied an acceptable level of representation of
households living in apartments and houses in age
groups who normally consume a high amount of energy.
In order to determine the extent of EF attitudes in the
sample, we constructed an attitude index using results
from nine attitude related questions in the questionnaire. The questions are shown in Appendix 1. The
index was constructed as a Likert scale. All answers to
these questions were given on a scale of 15 where low
scores indicate a non-EF attitude and a high score the
opposite. Average scores on these ve questions gave the
index, thus theoretically varying from 1 to 5. In total, we
could make this index for 470 respondents and there was
a strong correlation between the items, so that households who scored high in one question also scored high
in others. Internal consistencyreliability was calculated
with Crombachs alpha, which was 0.7957. The mean
value for all households that could be analysed in this
way was 3.6 and the range was from 1.67 to 5.00.
Households were divided into two groups, one with
48% of the respondents and a score of 3.56 or less and
one with 52% of the respondents and scores above 3.56.
The EF group received a mean score of 4.13 and the
non- environmentally friendly (NF) group a score of
3.14 (Carlsson-Kanyama et al., 2004).
As a complement to the questionnaires we conducted interviews with 12 households in different ages
and in different types of residences; apartments or
detached houses. The interviews were recorded and
transcribed in full.

1923

4. The efcient behaviours: factors and policy measures

that contributed
There were a number of energy efcient behaviours
practised by a substantial share of households within
three functional spheres of energy use in the home
(Table 1). Households living in detached houses have to
a great extent adopted a lower indoor temperature
than households living in apartments. Since the oil
crisis in the middle of the 1970s there have been repeated information campaigns addressing house-owners
about the importance of lowering indoor temperature
in order to decrease energy use. Households living in
houses have a direct feedback on their energy use
for heating as they pay their heating costs directly to
the energy supplier, while households living in dwellings
in multi-occupancy blocks normally have their
heating included in a monthly rent. The indoor
temperature in such dwellings is about 21C higher as a
consequence.
Most households have adopted energy efcient
behaviours in handling water use (Table 1). In most
households, especially younger households, the members take a shower instead of taking a bath in a bathtub.
They use washing machines and dishing machines
when they are full only. They use their iron more and
more seldom and put a lid on the pot when boiling
water. All these aspects of energy efcient behaviours
have a background in national information campaigns
promoting lowering energy use during the days of oil
crisis. The great number of repeated information
campaigns have had an effect in implementing new
behaviours, but it should not be forgotten that the
attitudes to time use has changed dramatically during
the same period. Today households, most of them with
all adults fully employed, want to spend less time on
household duties. New attitudes and lifestyles in
combination with information about energy efcient
behaviour have coincided to make a new behaviour a
habit in everyday life.

Table 1
The efcient behaviours: factors contributing to energy efciency
Functional area

Behaviour

Grading/frequency

Factors that contributed/comments

Warm and light

house
Cleanliness

Preferences for indoor temperature

55% do not want more than 20 1C

In apartment houses it is often 22 1C

Bathing in the bathtub

Use of the iron

60% use them less than once per week

More than half use them less than once
per week
80% wash only when it is full or almost
full
81% do it always or almost always
71% wash only when the machine is full

Hurried lifestyles
Hurried lifestyles, product
development
Changed standards for cleanliness,
information
The oil crisis, habit
Information, habit

Food provision

Washing textiles only when the

machine is full
Put lid on pots
Washing dishes only when the
machine is full

Note: All behaviours chosen in this analysis are signicant at the p-level 0,05 (Carlsson-Kanyama et al., 2003).

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1924

5. The inefcient behaviours: factors and policy

instruments for change
5.1. Warm and lighted house
The questionnaire revealed several behaviours relevant for obtaining a warm and light house that could be
improved (Table 2). The use of energy efcient light
bulbs was not very common, only 17% of the households always turned off the lights when leaving a room.
Of those who had the possibility to lower indoor
temperatures at night, only 38% did so and it is also
interesting to note that 23% could not adjust their
indoor temperatures. Other inefcient energy behaviour
regarding heating is the practice to air daily during
winter, which 40% reported and the reluctance among
most households to cover windows by night with
curtains or blinds.
When responding to an open question about what
motivates the behaviour to turn off lights in unused
rooms most answers were about savings, be it in terms
of money, energy or light bulbs. Here, more information
about saving potentials would be warranted in order to
further strengthen the motivations of such respondents.
However, when those who almost never turn off the
button were asked about policy instruments for change,
information was not a favoured option. Higher elec-

tricity prices were mentioned occasionally, but for this

group of respondents it was hard to identify motivational factors. In the interviews it became apparent that
for many respondents leaving lights on is more common
than lighting up the house? Cosiness, safety and the
habit of moving in and out of rooms continuously are
reasons for not turning lights off. As the behaviour of
leaving lights on or not is a highly visible one, it is
commonly a source of conict in the households where
one partner runs after the other and turns lights off.
Policy instruments in this area include, apart from
information in order to maintain the behaviour of the
already efcient households, possible product development in order to create cosy but low energy lighting as
well as the introduction of detectors that would
automatically spot movements and regulate lighting.
When asked about their reasons for lowering temperatures at night results from the questionnaire shows
that the main reason is comfortit is nicer to sleep in a
cool roomrather than issues connected with energy
efciency. 51% of the respondents who lowered
temperatures did it because of comfort and only 27%
for saving energy or money. More user friendly
technology for adjusting indoor temperatures was a
commonly proposed policy measure among those who
did not currently lower their indoor temperatures. Other
answers to this question about policy instruments were

Table 2
Inefcient behaviours and factors promoting for changing behaviour
Functional area

Behaviour

Grading/frequency

Policy instruments for change

Warm and light

house

Use of energy efcient light bulbs

50% do not use them

Turning lights off when leaving a

room
Lowering indoor temperatures at
night

Only 17% do it all the time

Information, product development,

rebates
Rebates, information, product
development
Information, product development,
rebates

Cleanliness

Covering windows at night

Airing during wintertime
The frequency of washing laundry

Removing stains instead of washing

Food provision

Entertainment and
information

Airing clothes instead of washing

them
Using a kettle when boiling water
Rinsing dishes in running hot water
before putting them in the dishwasher
Rinsing dishes in running water when
washing dishes by hand
Using the energy saving function on
the computer
Turning off the TV with the on/off
button

38% of those who have the possibility

do not use it, 23% can not lower
temperatures at night
Half of the households never do
40% air daily during this season
Half of the households run their
washing machine 4 times per week or
more
70% never do

Product development
Product development, information
Changed norms for cleanliness,
product development

Only 39% do this

37% do it often or always

Product development, rebates,

information
Product development, rebates,
information
Information
Information, product development

50% use this practice

Information

Half do not have it or dont know that

it exists
34% never do it

Information, support

60% never or almost never do

Information about e.g. risk of re

Note: All behaviours chosen in this analysis are signicant at the p-level 0,05 (Carlsson-Kanyama et al., 2003).

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nothing, a new oil crisis or warm women in bed.

The households were also asked about what could
motivate them to change habits and behaviour. I have
noticed that during the past years, as I have earned more
and more, my consumption behaviour has become worse
and worse. I was well behaved with these things before.
Maybe not because of economical reasons but because of
traditional reasons, anti-consumer reasons. But as the gap
between what I earn and what I can afford increases the
worse I behave (Old household in apartment). All
respondents indicated a need for feedback on their
behaviour, e.g. in saved costs for energy use or improved
health aspects. Households are almost never served with
such feedback on energy behaviour when paying their
bills.
Problems of coping with chaotic, over complicated or
unmanageable heating systems were also voiced in the
interviews. No, we would not lower temperature when
away during the daytime, well but in the weekend we are
at home and we have small children and then one has to reprogramme once per week and that is completely y it is
not possible.. it does not work yit is too troublesome
(Young household in detached house). Erratic temperature changes in apartment houses were counteracted by
opening windows or turning on ovens to obtain a
suitable indoor climate. For households in such a
situation a planned behaviour of energy efciency is of
course impossible. Other households in apartments with
a more stable supply of heat were still reluctant to lower
temperatures because of the discomfort of entering a
cold home. In these apartments regulation is done
manually with no timer. Even a substantial increase in
rent would not necessarily motivate one such householder, who was quite well off to change behaviour. For
those living in detached houses with their own heating
systems, a major obstacle for adjusting indoor temperatures is that there may be no working thermometer or
thermostat in the dwelling. But even for those that can
adjust temperatures it seems troublesome as it may
involve entering the garage where the heating system is
situated to regulate late in the evening.
Concerning the practice of airing during wintertime,
which 40% of the households did daily according to the
questionnaire, one reason is smoking which some
residents like to do in front of an open window even
during wintertime to avoid indoor pollution. Evidently
policy instruments for change in the health sector such
as anti-smoking campaigns, may affect energy use as
well. Others air daily because it is something they
learned as children, they imagine that the air becomes
old after a while despite their residences being
equipped with a well functioning ventilation system.
Others avoid airing, as it is something they learned as
children when they were told to open and shut windows
and doors as quickly as possible in order to conserve
energy.

1925

The use of blinds or curtains is without doubt a

vanishing practice, especially among younger people
who do not feel that their private activities during
evening hours need to be hidden. Here, neither
information nor rebates was mentioned as a possible
policy instrument, but product development would
make any efforts by the households themselves unnecessary. I cannot think of anything that would motivate
me, this is a factor of trouble to pull up and downy and
then one has to remember to pull them up in the morning.
and then there is a risk that they will stay down (Young
household in a detached house).
5.2. Cleanliness
Several behaviours relevant for maintaining cleanliness could be improved (Table 2). Half the households
run their washing machine four times per week or more,
a minority remove stains or air clothes as a prevention
strategy for frequent washing. An overall impression
from the interviews is that respondents differ substantially in their opinions about what constitutes a clean
garment and that norms for cleanliness have changed
over time. This leads to differences in washing
frequency. For some, a shirt is always put in the laundry
bin after one day of use regardless of whether or not
unpleasant smells or stains are present. Others use their
clothes much longer without experiencing hygienic or
aesthetic problems. I can use my clothes for many days.
Im not soy I have never beeny, it is not new now with
the children and all.. it does not bother me if my clothes
are not so clean (Young household in apartment). This
respondent seems unusual in her approach.
With regard to removing stains and airing clothes the
overall impression is that it is a vanishing practice even
among the old households. When applied, it is rather
because one wishes to use that particular piece of
clothing the next day and does not have time to wash
and dry it the same evening. A typical answer in the
interviews to how often stains are removed instead of
putting the item in the laundry basket is never.
Several households have never heard that airing may
prolong the time between two laundries. This means
that such behaviours are difcult to recreate with
information arguing for energy efciency or the
environment.
5.3. Food provision
Behaviour with the potential for improvement in the
area of food provision includes more frequent use of
kettles, or microwave ovens, for boiling water, only 50%
of the respondents have this practice. Rinsing dishes is
also an area with potentials for improvement, almost
40% rinsed their dishes in running hot water before

ARTICLE IN PRESS
1926

A.-L. Linden et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 19181927

putting them into the dishwasher and 50% rinsed their

hand washed dishes in running water.
The general pattern in the households is to prepare
one hot meal per day during weekdays and one or two
such meals during non-working days, but a fourth of the
households cook a hot meal at home three times per
week at most during weekdays. Thus, a rather large
group of households either eat out or buy ready-made
meals frequently.
The reason for which older households did not use a
kettle or microwave oven for boiling water, but
rather the electric stove, was mainly because it is a
habit combined with reasons such as no other
alternative or practical according to the answers
from the questionnaire. Younger households use a
kettle to a larger extent because it is faster and
easier to measure up the quantity of water required, as
many kettles are partly transparent with grades. In
the interviews, several households who owned and
used a kettle did not know that it was an energy
efcient alternative for boiling water and were positively surprised when told so. Some of the households
who did not have a kettle resisted buying one because they did not want yet another item to crumble
the house. Others were suspicious about the quality of
water when using the microwave oven and thought it
may be harmful to health. It does not always feel that it is
quite OK to use the microwave oven, maybe it is
something that I got into my mindy it may hurt the
food in some way, it is so strange that it is heated from the
inside and it is this disgustingy it gets so hot sometimes,
microhot, it becomes hotter than when one cooks it, and it
feels unnatural in some ways, I dont know, I dont like it
(Middle aged household, apartment). The most effective
policy instruments for more efcient water boiling
practices seems to be information.
Households rinse the dishes in running hot water
because they think the dishes wont be clean otherwise.
Some have tried skipping it and were not content with
the result; others just have a habit not very much
reected upon. Yes, it is probably a bad habit only,
maybe because one does noty I am the kind of person
who likes to take very hot water and take away most kinds
ofy because they say that with dishwashing machines one
has to rinse thoroughly before (putting the dishes into the
machine).. so it is automatically that rinsing (Middle
aged household, apartment). Several households have no
clue about the extent to which rinsing or not affect
energy use or to what extent the temperature chosen for
the dishwashing programme inuence energy use. They
need such information as well as better instructions for
how to use their dishwashers efciently. But there are
some households that never rinse the dishes before
putting them into the machine. They skip rinsing
because it takes too much time and effort. There is too
much trouble involved, they think.

5.4. Entertainment and information

More than 80% of the households have a computer at
home according to the questionnaires and close to
everyone has at least one television set. About half of the
respondents did not know that it is possible to use
software that sets the computer in a low power mode
after a certain time of inactivity or else they know about
it but claim that it was not installed on their computers.
A third of the respondents did not turn off their
televisions sets with the button but instead used the
remote control. These are two examples of behaviour in
the area of entertainment and information that were not
very energy efcient.
It was more common in young households than in the
older ones to know about the possibilities for using a
low power mode. Among those who knew about it and
had the software in their computer, there was sometimes
a reluctance to use it because it was very irritating
when the hard disc was shut down and one had to press
and press again which was very unnerving. For this
household comfort and speed are important aspects of
everyday life and the computer-based technical support
system for energy conservation they have at present is
perceived as too poor. When the households who claim
that they do not have software for power saving were
asked about what could motivate them do get it the
most common answer was dont know while others
proposed technical support.
Resistance to shutting down the television set with the
button has to do with loss of comfort and for those who
live alone an additional reason is to avoid silence.
Among those who use the button some do it because of
re hazard.

6. Conclusions
To promote energy efciency in individual behaviour most often economic measures, e.g. pricing
and taxing, are used. Lately, energy labelling has been
developed for household technology as information to
consumers. Our study of energy use, efcient and
inefcient behaviours, in households has shown that
consumers ask for information about the relation
between behaviour and energy use in several functional
spheres of home work; more user friendly technology;
economic gratication programmes like bonus programmes for lowering energy use. However, it is also
very important to promote behaviours in line with
recent trends in lifestyles, e.g. time saving behaviours,
latest fashion for energy efcient technology or a cosy
indoor environment. When trends in lifestyle, energy
efcient technology and behaviours coincide changes
into efcient behaviour seems to appear almost automatically.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
A.-L. Linden et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 19181927

In order to lower energy use in households with policy

measures there is a need for development and renewal of
policy instruments. There is also need for better
denitions of consumer groups in, e.g. old and young
households, types of housing and whether fully employed or not. New policy measures ought to be
developed and combined to a greater extent than today.
Policy measures can be combined either in vertical
communication processes or in horizontal communication processes, e.g. voluntary agreements. Lastly, energy
policy for households ought to make better use of
measures related to each other and support accumulated
energy efcient behaviours in a policy chain.

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