Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings

TLDR

A national online survey of 505 participants assessed their perceptions of energy consumption and savings across household, transportation, and recycling activities. Participants preferred curtailment over efficiency improvements, underestimated energy use and savings by an average factor of 2.8, and those with higher numeracy and pro‑environmental attitudes were more accurate, indicating that targeted education could substantially improve public understanding.

Abstract

In a national online survey, 505 participants reported their perceptions of energy consumption and savings for a variety of household, transportation, and recycling activities. When asked for the most effective strategy they could implement to conserve energy, most participants mentioned curtailment (e.g., turning off lights, driving less) rather than efficiency improvements (e.g., installing more efficient light bulbs and appliances), in contrast to experts’ recommendations. For a sample of 15 activities, participants underestimated energy use and savings by a factor of 2.8 on average, with small overestimates for low-energy activities and large underestimates for high-energy activities. Additional estimation and ranking tasks also yielded relatively flat functions for perceived energy use and savings. Across several tasks, participants with higher numeracy scores and stronger proenvironmental attitudes had more accurate perceptions. The serious deficiencies highlighted by these results suggest that well-designed efforts to improve the public's understanding of energy use and savings could pay large dividends.