Appliance-level demand response in smart homes: Behavioral driven factors and tariff reduction policy implications

With the development of the smart grid and Internet of Things, smart household appliances are increasing integrated into residents' home. This evolution has enhanced the environment for intelligent electricity consumption, making electricity appliances usage more flexible through smart home control APPs. To explore influencing mechanism of residents' smart electricity consumption decision-making, we constructed a Binary Logit model to analyze the effects of demographic, tariff response willingness and electricity consumption habits. The model examines demand response behaviors associated with four common appliances: rice cookers, washing machines, air conditioners and electric vehicle charging. The results reveal that residents with an income below 2000 CNY, highly flexible work hours and 2-4 electrical appliances are more likely to participate in demand response for rice cookers. Residents aged 18-55 show a greater willingness to engage in demand response for washing machines. Those with 4-7 appliances and a habit of using mobile phones via Wi-Fi are more inclined to adjust air conditioner usage. Women with lower-priced phone exhibit a stronger demand response tendency for electric vehicle charging. Moreover, interdependencies are observed among the demand response behaviors of different appliances, and these relationships vary depending on electric vehicle ownership. Finally, a system dynamics model is employed to analyze the effects of electricity tariff reduction incentives, revealing that the optimal tariff reduction rate varies across different appliances. These findings provide valuable policy insights for promoting residents’ participation in demand response for energy conservation and contribute to the literature on household electricity consumption behavior.