The Impact of Individual Behavior on Household Energy Saving

Abstract

Energy-saving behaviors are defined as the daily and habitual practices of households that focus on specific reductions in energy use. The main objective of this research was to estimate the impact of the energy-saving behavior of individuals on energy demand and to estimate the impact of factors affections the adoption of energy-saving techniques. The study is based on primary data which is collected through questionnaires. The data were collected from rural and urban households in four tehsils of district Sargodha, Pakistan. The Ordinary Least Square technique was to describe the relationship between electricity consumption and different explanatory variables such as gender, age, region, family members, dwelling area, income, energy consumption awareness, external influencing factors, and household saving behavior. Job status is negative and significant, qualification variable in this study is insignificant, marital status is negatively associated with energy consumption and significant, size of a household has a significant effect on the model.  The monthly income of the household head has a positive and significant effect. Energy consumption awareness is significantly negative. External influencing factors are insignificant. Saving behavior in electronic appliances is significantly negative to energy consumption. Government should put efforts to aware the public about energy-saving measures through an awareness campaign using electronic media like mobile and email. Energy-saving appliances should be a sale at cheap prices. The household should have to change its habitual behavior.