Raising the AC temperature in the tropics

In tropical countries,air conditioners (ACs) account for a significant fraction of energy consumption. We conduct a randomized control trial to examine how people can best be induced to raise their AC temperature by 2 °C over time,to reduce energy consumption. Subjects were randomly assigned to (1)...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Koch, Ingrid, Lim, Noah, Somasundaram, Jeeva
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:IE
Repositorio:Repositorio IE
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ie.edu:20.500.14417/3012
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.107191
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14417/3012
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85177619298&doi=10.1016%2fj.eneco.2023.107191&partnerID=40&md5=40b15e9ceddd27d819a17089b34eeb90
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Air conditioning
Energy utilization
Tropics
Air conditioner
Air conditioner temperature
Condition
Energy-consumption
Gradual target
Incentive
Incentive control
Randomized control trials
Reduce energy consumption
Tropical countries
Energy conservation
air conditioning
energy use
high temperature
incentive
tropical region
AC temperature
Gradual targets
Incentives
63 Sociología::6311 Sociología de los asentamientos humanos::6311.02 Sociología ecológica
ODS 2 - Hambre cero
ODS 4 - Educación de calidad
ODS 14 - Vida submarina
ODS 12 - Producción y consumo responsables
ODS 15 - Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
ODS 13 - Acción por el clima
Descripción
Sumario:In tropical countries,air conditioners (ACs) account for a significant fraction of energy consumption. We conduct a randomized control trial to examine how people can best be induced to raise their AC temperature by 2 °C over time,to reduce energy consumption. Subjects were randomly assigned to (1) raise the AC temperature gradually,by 1 °C in period 1 and an additional 1 °C in period 2; (2) increase the temperature by 2 °C in one go during period 2; or (3) a no-incentive control condition. We find that raising AC temperatures gradually worked better in achieving higher AC temperatures during the intervention and post-intervention periods. Energy consumption data confirmed that these higher AC temperatures translated into energy savings. Our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of gradual targets to initiate and sustain behavioral change in energy conservation and other related domains. © 2023