IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v158y2021ics0301421521003815.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Revisiting heat energy consumption modeling: Household production theory applied to field experimental data

Author

Listed:
  • Heesen, Florian
  • Madlener, Reinhard

Abstract

This paper offers new insights on utility-driven heat energy consumption derived from using an interdisciplinary modeling framework that is based on Becker's household production theory. The research question addressed is whether economic aspects affect short-term, less conscious behavior in the same way as long-term, more conscious behavior. From the investigation, new insights on the usefulness of price-based energy policy measures targeting heat energy consumption are gained. The household production model proposed for analyzing residential heat energy demand integrates economic, engineering and behavioral elements. Comparative statics enables an interdisciplinary integration of price- and income functions to cover economic influences on heat energy (service) consumption, the production function to cover technical influences, and the utility-based choice architecture to cover utility maximization influences. Based on a functional representation of the theories, a panel data model of heat energy consumption is estimated. The empirical analysis is based on data from 60 adjacent apartments in South-West Germany. We find empirical evidence that the price elasticity of demand is only statistically significant when using yearly aggregated data. This result provides evidence that occupants apparently do not act much based upon energy price levels when following their daily home heating routine. In less frequent considerations, as e.g. according to their yearly billing cycles, occupants adjust their heat energy consumption in response to the fuel price changes noticed on the energy bill. Furthermore, in relation to the other influences on heat energy consumption, we find that the price impact is less pronounced than the impact of comfort conditions. Therefore, a CO2 price on heat energy might set the right incentives to invest in more energy-efficient heating technology, but hardly alter comfort-taking or rebound effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Heesen, Florian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2021. "Revisiting heat energy consumption modeling: Household production theory applied to field experimental data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:158:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521003815
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112511
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521003815
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112511?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas, Brinda A. & Azevedo, Inês L., 2013. "Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for U.S. households with input–output analysis Part 1: Theoretical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 199-210.
    2. Madlener, Reinhard & Hauertmann, Maximilian, 2011. "Rebound Effects in German Residential Heating: Do Ownership and Income Matter?," FCN Working Papers 2/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    3. Schach, Michael & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "Impacts of an Ice-Free Northeast Passage on LNG Trading: Transport Routes and Optimal Capacity Planning," FCN Working Papers 12/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    4. Jesse M. Shapiro, 2013. "Fungibility and Consumer Choice: Evidence from Commodity Price Shocks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(4), pages 1449-1498.
    5. Jasper M. Dalhuisen & Raymond J. G. M. Florax & JHenri L. F. de Groot & Peter Nijkamp, 2003. "Price and Income Elasticities of Residential Water Demand: A Meta-Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 79(2), pages 292-308.
    6. Göke, Leonard & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "High Taxes on Cloudy Days: Dynamic State-Induced Price Components in Power Markets," FCN Working Papers 18/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised 01 May 2020.
    7. Rehdanz, Katrin, 2007. "Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 167-182, March.
    8. Höwer, Daniel & Oberst, Christian A. & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "Regionalization Heuristic to Map Spatial Heterogeneity of Macroeconomic Impacts: The Case of the Green Energy Transition in NRW," FCN Working Papers 13/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised 01 Feb 2019.
    9. Filippini, Massimo & Pachauri, Shonali, 2004. "Elasticities of electricity demand in urban Indian households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 429-436, February.
    10. Cheng Hsiao, 2007. "Panel data analysis—advantages and challenges," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Croissant, Yves & Millo, Giovanni, 2008. "Panel Data Econometrics in R: The plm Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 27(i02).
    12. Roy, Joyashree, 2000. "The rebound effect: some empirical evidence from India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 433-438, June.
    13. Lucas W. Davis, 2011. "Evaluating the Slow Adoption of Energy Efficient Investments: Are Renters Less Likely to Have Energy Efficient Appliances?," NBER Chapters, in: The Design and Implementation of US Climate Policy, pages 301-316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Hendrik Schmitz and Reinhard Madlener, 2020. "Direct and Indirect Energy Rebound Effects in German Households: A Linearized Almost Ideal Demand System Approach," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 5), pages 89-118.
    15. Saunders, Harry & Roy, Joyashree & Azevedo, Inês M.L. & Chakravarty, Debalina & Dasgubta, Shyamasree & de la Rue du Can, Stephane & Druckman, Angela & Fouquet, Roger & Grubb, Michael & Qiang Lin, Bo &, 2020. "Energy Efficiency: What has it Delivered in the Last 40 Years?," FCN Working Papers 16/2020, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised Apr 2021.
    16. Peter M. Schwarz & Thomas N. Taylor, 1995. "Cold Hands, Warm Hearth? Climate, Net Takeback, and Household Comfort," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 41-54.
    17. Höwer, Daniel & Oberst, Christian A. & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "General regionalization heuristic to map spatial heterogeneity of macroeconomic impacts: The case of the green energy transition in NRW," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 166-174.
    18. Flaig, Gebhard, 1990. "Household production and the short- and long-run demand for electricity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 116-121, April.
    19. Brons, Martijn & Nijkamp, Peter & Pels, Eric & Rietveld, Piet, 2008. "A meta-analysis of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. A SUR approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2105-2122, September.
    20. Sorrell, Steve, 2007. "The economics of energy service contracts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 507-521, January.
    21. Koichiro Ito, 2014. "Do Consumers Respond to Marginal or Average Price? Evidence from Nonlinear Electricity Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 537-563, February.
    22. Hendrik Schmitz & Reinhard Madlener, 2020. "Heterogeneity in price responsiveness for residential space heating in Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2255-2281, November.
    23. Thomas, Brinda A. & Azevedo, Inês L., 2013. "Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for U.S. households with input–output analysis. Part 2: Simulation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 188-198.
    24. Daniel Hoechle, 2007. "Robust standard errors for panel regressions with cross-sectional dependence," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 281-312, September.
    25. Oberst, Christian & Harmsen - van Hout, Marjolein J. W., 2017. "Adoption and Cooperation Decisions in Sustainable Energy Infrastructure: Evidence from a Sequential Choice Experiment in Germany," FCN Working Papers 14/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    26. Haas, Reinhard & Biermayr, Peter, 2000. "The rebound effect for space heating Empirical evidence from Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 403-410, June.
    27. Maréchal, Kevin, 2010. "Not irrational but habitual: The importance of "behavioural lock-in" in energy consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1104-1114, March.
    28. Galassi, Veronica & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Shall I open the window? Policy implications of thermal-comfort adjustment practices in residential buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 518-527.
    29. Meredith Fowlie & Michael Greenstone & Catherine Wolfram, 2018. "Do Energy Efficiency Investments Deliver? Evidence from the Weatherization Assistance Program," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1597-1644.
    30. Schach, Michael & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Impacts of an ice-free Northeast Passage on LNG markets and geopolitics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 438-448.
    31. Kulmer, Veronika & Seebauer, Sebastian, 2017. "How Robust are Estimates of the Rebound Effect of Energy Efficiency Improvements? A Sensitivity Analysis of Consumer Heterogeneity and Elasticities," FCN Working Papers 16/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    32. Brounen, Dirk & Kok, Nils & Quigley, John M., 2012. "Residential energy use and conservation: Economics and demographics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 931-945.
    33. Seebauer, Sebastian, 2017. "Individual Drivers for Direct and Indirect Rebound Effects: A Survey Study of Electric Vehicles and Building Insulation in Austria," FCN Working Papers 17/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    34. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(2), pages 132-132.
    35. Morley, Janine, 2018. "Rethinking energy services: The concept of ‘meta-service’ and implications for demand reduction and servicizing policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 563-569.
    36. Frieling, Julius & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "The Turning Tide: How Energy has Driven the Transformation of the British Economy Since the Industrial Revolution," FCN Working Papers 7/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    37. Willett, Keith D. & Naghshpour, Shahdad, 1987. "Residential demand for energy commodities : A household production function approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 251-256, October.
    38. Halvorsen, Bente & Larsen, Bodil M., 2001. "The flexibility of household electricity demand over time," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-18, January.
    39. Nathan W. Chan & Kenneth Gillingham, 2015. "The Microeconomic Theory of the Rebound Effect and Its Welfare Implications," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 133-159.
    40. Hunt Allcott & Todd Rogers, 2014. "The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Energy Conservation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3003-3037, October.
    41. Kumbaroğlu, Gürkan & Madlener, Reinhard, 2011. "Evaluation of Economically Optimal Retrofit Investment Options for Energy Savings in Buildings," FCN Working Papers 14/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    42. Frieling, Julius & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "Fueling the US Economy: Energy as a Production Factor from the Great Depression until Today," FCN Working Papers 2/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    43. David M. Drukker, 2003. "Testing for serial correlation in linear panel-data models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(2), pages 168-177, June.
    44. Archibald, Robert & Gillingham, Robert, 1980. "An Analysis of the Short-Run Consumer Demand for Gasoline Using Household Survey Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(4), pages 622-628, November.
    45. Abrahamse, Wokje & Steg, Linda, 2009. "How do socio-demographic and psychological factors relate to households' direct and indirect energy use and savings?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 711-720, October.
    46. Saunders, Harry D. & Roy, Joyashree & Azevedo, Inês M.L. & Chakravarty, Debalina & Dasgupta, Shyamasree & De La Rue Du Can, Stephane & Druckman, Angela & Fouquet, Roger & Grubb, Michael & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "Energy efficiency: what has research delivered in the last 40 years?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114344, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    47. Walgern, Julia & Peters, Lennart & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "Economic Evaluation of Maintenance Strategies for Offshore Wind Turbines Based on Condition Monitoring Systems," FCN Working Papers 8/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    48. Filippini, Massimo, 1995. "Electricity demand by time of use An application of the household AIDS model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 197-204, July.
    49. Scott, Alex, 1980. "The economics of house heating," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 130-141, July.
    50. Cayla, Jean-Michel & Maizi, Nadia & Marchand, Christophe, 2011. "The role of income in energy consumption behaviour: Evidence from French households data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7874-7883.
    51. Galassi, Veronica & Madlener, Reinhard, 2017. "The Role of Environmental Concern and Comfort Expectations in Energy Retrofit Decisions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 53-65.
    52. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    53. Berkhout, Peter H. G. & Muskens, Jos C. & W. Velthuijsen, Jan, 2000. "Defining the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 425-432, June.
    54. Lucas W. Davis, 2008. "Durable goods and residential demand for energy and water: evidence from a field trial," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(2), pages 530-546, June.
    55. Vonsien, Silvia & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Cost-Effectiveness of Li-Ion Battery Storage with a Special Focus on Photovoltaic Systems in Private Households," FCN Working Papers 2/2018, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Specht, Jan Martin & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Business Models for Energy Suppliers Aggregating Flexible Distributed Assets and Policy Issues Raised," FCN Working Papers 7/2018, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    2. Wolff, Stefanie & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "Charged up? Preferences for Electric Vehicle Charging and Implications for Charging Infrastructure Planning," FCN Working Papers 3/2019, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    3. Liu, Xueying & Madlener, Reinhard, 2021. "The sky is the limit: Assessing aircraft market diffusion with agent-based modeling," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    4. Liu, Xueying & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "Get Ready for Take-Off: A Two-Stage Model of Aircraft Market Diffusion," FCN Working Papers 15/2019, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    5. Colmenares, Gloria & Löschel, Andreas & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "The rebound effect and its representation in energy and climate models," CAWM Discussion Papers 106, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pereira, Guillermo Ivan & Specht, Jan Martin & Silva, Patrícia Pereira & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Technology, business model, and market design adaptation toward smart electricity distribution: Insights for policy making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 426-440.
    2. Specht, Jan Martin & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Business Models for Energy Suppliers Aggregating Flexible Distributed Assets and Policy Issues Raised," FCN Working Papers 7/2018, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    3. Benjamin Volland, 2016. "Efficiency in Domestic Space Heating: An Estimation of the Direct Rebound Effect for Domestic Heating in the U.S," IRENE Working Papers 16-01, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    4. Su, Yu-Wen, 2019. "Residential electricity demand in Taiwan: Consumption behavior and rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 36-45.
    5. Hediger, Cécile & Farsi, Mehdi & Weber, Sylvain, 2018. "Turn It Up and Open the Window: On the Rebound Effects in Residential Heating," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 21-39.
    6. Hendrik Schmitz and Reinhard Madlener, 2020. "Direct and Indirect Energy Rebound Effects in German Households: A Linearized Almost Ideal Demand System Approach," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 5), pages 89-118.
    7. Matthew E. Oliver & Juan Moreno-Cruz & Ross C. Beppler, 2019. "Microeconomics of the rebound effect for residential solar photovoltaic systems," CESifo Working Paper Series 7635, CESifo.
    8. Belaïd, Fateh & Youssef, Adel Ben & Lazaric, Nathalie, 2020. "Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Colmenares, Gloria & Löschel, Andreas & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "The rebound effect and its representation in energy and climate models," CAWM Discussion Papers 106, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    10. Saunders, Harry D. & Roy, Joyashree & Azevedo, Inês M.L. & Chakravarty, Debalina & Dasgupta, Shyamasree & De La Rue Du Can, Stephane & Druckman, Angela & Fouquet, Roger & Grubb, Michael & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "Energy efficiency: what has research delivered in the last 40 years?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114344, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Heesen, Florian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "Consumer Behavior in Energy-Efficient Homes: The Limited Merits of Energy Performance Ratings as Benchmarks," FCN Working Papers 17/2016, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    12. Wang, Lijun & Zha, Donglan & O’Mahony, Tadhg & Zhou, Dequn, 2023. "Energy efficiency lags and welfare boons: Understanding the rebound and welfare effects through China's urban households," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    13. Baležentis, Tomas & Butkus, Mindaugas & Štreimikienė, Dalia & Shen, Zhiyang, 2021. "Exploring the limits for increasing energy efficiency in the residential sector of the European Union: Insights from the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    14. Hendrik Schmitz & Reinhard Madlener, 2020. "Heterogeneity in price responsiveness for residential space heating in Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2255-2281, November.
    15. Ensieh Shojaeddini & Ben Gilbert, 2023. "Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Evidence from Efficient Lighting Subsidies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 173-217, January.
    16. Zha, Donglan & Chen, Qian & Wang, Lijun, 2022. "Exploring carbon rebound effects in Chinese households’ consumption: A simulation analysis based on a multi-regional input–output framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    17. Taneja, Shivani & Mandys, Filip, 2022. "Drivers of UK household energy expenditure: Promoting efficiency and curbing emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    18. Kearns, Ade & Whitley, Elise & Curl, Angela, 2019. "Occupant behaviour as a fourth driver of fuel poverty (aka warmth & energy deprivation)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1143-1155.
    19. Milin Lu & Zhaohua Wang, 2017. "Rebound effects for residential electricity use in urban China: an aggregation analysis based E-I-O and scenario simulation," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 255(1), pages 525-546, August.
    20. Pfaff, Matthias & Sartorius, Christian, 2015. "Economy-wide rebound effects for non-energetic raw materials," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 132-139.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heat energy consumption; Household production theory; Price elasticity of demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:158:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521003815. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.