Elsevier

Energy

Volume 125, 15 April 2017, Pages 382-392
Energy

Energy-saving effect of automatic home energy report utilizing home energy management system data in Japan

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.136Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Home energy reports utilizing the Home Energy Management System data was constructed.

  • The effect was verified using a panel data regression random effects model in 1600 households.

  • The report was effective in winter and led to a 3.4% reduction in electricity consumption.

  • Households with higher electricity consumption reduced by 5.4% in winter, larger than average.

  • The accumulative two-year winter consumption reduction of 7.5% was also confirmed.

Abstract

This study assesses the effects of sending home energy reports utilizing the Home Energy Management System (HEMS) data to more than 1600 households in Japan. The treatment effect was verified using a panel data regression random effects model comparing the electricity consumption of a treatment group to which the report was sent with that of a control group that was not sent. The report was effective in winter and led to a 3.4% reduction in electricity consumption compared to the previous year in the average household. A further reduction of 5.4% for the households with higher electricity consumption for whom a significant reduction of 11.4% in the use of space heating was also observed. Although the treatment effect was not significant in summer for the average household, larger households reduced consumption by an overall average of 2%, with reductions of 6.8% and 7% in terms of space cooling and hot water use, respectively, from the previous month. In contrast, smaller households increased their space cooling consumption by more than 10% on average, which might be considered an undesirable boomerang effect. The accumulative treatment effect in a detached house group was also confirmed. Additionally, an accumulative two-year winter consumption reduction of 7.5% demonstrated the effectiveness of continual intervention.

Introduction

Global electricity consumption continues to rise at a high pace, with residential electricity use representing 31% of electricity consumption in OECD countries in 2012 [1]. Households consumed 29% of the total electricity used in Japan in 2013, and this household electricity consumption has increased by 56% from 1990 to 2013 [2]. In June 2015, the Japanese government announced a new energy conservation target to be reached by all sectors by 2030, including a requirement that the residential sector reduce energy and electricity use by 27% and 19%, respectively, from 2013 levels [3]. Achieving this aggressive target is expected to be accomplished through the improvement of insulation levels in dwellings, the diffusion of efficient appliances and lighting, introduction of home energy management systems (HEMS), and the implementation of public awareness/educational activities. The introduction of HEMS, which involves the monitoring and control of residential energy use, to all 50 million households by 2030 is expected to be a target of the program. As of 2015, it is estimated that 200,000 HEMS have been introduced to individual homes in Japan, a trend that has been accelerated through government support in the form of subsidies issued following the 2011 earthquake. HEMS can provide high-resolution data on electricity consumption broken down by variables, including overall space heating, space cooling, and water heating, and other factors, compared to a general in-home display system. However, the utilization of HEMS data is still very limited. The goal of this study was to develop a method for tailored feedback based on the household electricity consumption reports utilizing HEMS data and quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of such reports.

Section snippets

Literature review

Several intervention programs have been instituted with the goal of encouraging households in order to reduce their energy demand [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Abrahamse et al. reviewed 38 studies conducted between 1977 and 2004 and categorized them as involving either antecedent or consequence strategies to promote household energy conservation [4]. The former strategy involves the use of factors, such as commitment, goal setting, information, and home auditing, whereas the latter

Participants

We selected households for the treatment and control groups randomly from the households registered in the HEMS database [19]. The database possesses HEMS data obtained from homebuilders, condominium developers, and HEMS data service providers at various resolutions for approximately 2000 households. In addition to electricity consumption data, the database contains survey responses regarding household resident attribute information, including building type, household data, appliance use,

Results

Table 6, Table 7, Table 8, Table 9 show the results of the effect of the energy report on all households in the three sites for summer 2015 and winter 2016. Floor area, number of people, and outdoor temperature were normalized, and the standard partial regression coefficients were calculated. The treatment effect by amount of consumption is shown in Table 10 and in Figs. 2 and 3. Generally speaking, the electricity saving effect of the energy report can be observed in winter only.

The treatment

Discussion

It is generally difficult to compare the results of the effects of our reports with those of similar existing experiments because of the differences in the sample size, experiment duration, feedback content, feedback method, and the original energy demand levels by different countries. However, if we attempt to compare, the 3.4% electricity-saving effect in winter, reported in our study, can be considered sufficiently higher than the results of similar existing experiments. For example, the

Conclusion

We developed a home energy report utilizing electricity data measured on a by-circuit basis by HEMS combined with household attribute data and verified its treatment effect in a study involving more than 1600 Japanese households. We sent HEMS reports to the participants in two winter seasons and one summer season. Hourly and seasonal electricity consumption were aggregated by usage in terms of space heating and cooling, hot water use, and other appliance use and compared with figures for

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by JST, CREST and the Ministry of Environment in Japan.

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