IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i17p4493-d1473181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy Efficiency in Seasonal Homes: A Study on the Occupancy, Energy Use, and Renovation of Second Homes in Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Kristina Mjörnell

    (Research Institutes of Sweden, Sven Hultins Plats 5, 412 58 Gothenburg, Sweden
    Division of Building Physics, LTH, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

The escalating utilisation of second homes has led to an extension in heating periods and, to a certain degree, renovations to elevate the standard, resulting in augmented energy and resource consumption. A comprehensive survey was conducted in Sweden, examining user patterns across different seasons, heating systems, and implemented energy efficiency measures. The results indicate that second homes are occupied for extended periods during the summer season and intermittently throughout the year. Over half of the second homes are heated even when unoccupied, with 12% maintaining a temperature above 16 °C. The predominant heating method is direct electricity (32.2%), followed by heat pumps (29.5%) and stoves (17.5%). A variety of renovations are undertaken, primarily to enhance the standard and technical performance, but also to implement energy efficiency measures such as window replacement, additional insulation, or heat pump installation. Based on the reported user and heating patterns, and the energy renovations carried out, the potential energy savings with different energy renovation strategies were estimated for the Swedish second home stock. The results show that though lowering the temperature when a second home is unoccupied emerges as the most efficient measure, both in terms of cost-effectiveness and climate impact, it needs to be complemented with intermittent heating or dehumidification to ensure that the relative humidity is below critical levels, to avoid the risk of damages caused by, for example, mould growth. Installing a heat pump is the second most energy- and cost-effective measure and has the advantage that the indoor temperature can be maintained at rather high levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina Mjörnell, 2024. "Energy Efficiency in Seasonal Homes: A Study on the Occupancy, Energy Use, and Renovation of Second Homes in Sweden," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:17:p:4493-:d:1473181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/17/4493/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/17/4493/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mata, Érika & Sasic Kalagasidis, Angela & Johnsson, Filip, 2013. "Energy usage and technical potential for energy saving measures in the Swedish residential building stock," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 404-414.
    2. Anni Huhtala & Tuija Lankia, 2012. "Valuation of trips to second homes: do environmental attributes matter?," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(6), pages 733-752, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Shoaib Azizi & Gireesh Nair & Thomas Olofsson, 2020. "Adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures in Renovation of Single-Family Houses: A Comparative Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Theofanis Psomas & Despoina Teli & Adam O’ Donovan & Pavlos Kolias & Sarka Langer, 2024. "Association of Perceived Thermal Comfort and Air Quality with Building- and Occupant-Related Characteristics and Environmental Parameters in Sweden," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Hanan S.S. Ibrahim & Ahmed Z. Khan & Shady Attia & Yehya Serag, 2021. "Classification of Heritage Residential Building Stock and Defining Sustainable Retrofitting Scenarios in Khedivial Cairo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-26, January.
    4. Brandão de Vasconcelos, Ana & Pinheiro, Manuel Duarte & Manso, Armando & Cabaço, António, 2015. "A Portuguese approach to define reference buildings for cost-optimal methodologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 316-328.
    5. Sara Eriksson & Lovisa Waldenström & Max Tillberg & Magnus Österbring & Angela Sasic Kalagasidis, 2019. "Numerical Simulations and Empirical Data for the Evaluation of Daylight Factors in Existing Buildings in Sweden," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Lidberg, T. & Gustafsson, M. & Myhren, J.A. & Olofsson, T. & Ödlund (former Trygg), L., 2018. "Environmental impact of energy refurbishment of buildings within different district heating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 231-238.
    8. Ayikoe Tettey, Uniben Yao & Gustavsson, Leif, 2020. "Energy savings and overheating risk of deep energy renovation of a multi-storey residential building in a cold climate under climate change," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    9. Liu, Xuan & Yang, Dujuan & Arentze, Theo & Wielders, Tom, 2023. "The willingness of social housing tenants to participate in natural gas-free heating systems project: Insights from a stated choice experiment in the Netherlands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    10. Ballarini, Ilaria & Corgnati, Stefano Paolo & Corrado, Vincenzo, 2014. "Use of reference buildings to assess the energy saving potentials of the residential building stock: The experience of TABULA project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 273-284.
    11. Mehdi Amirkhani & Igor Martek & Mark B. Luther, 2021. "Mapping Research Trends in Residential Construction Retrofitting: A Scientometric Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, September.
    12. Berardi, Umberto, 2017. "A cross-country comparison of the building energy consumptions and their trends," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 230-241.
    13. Ballarini, Ilaria & Corrado, Vincenzo & Madonna, Francesco & Paduos, Simona & Ravasio, Franco, 2017. "Energy refurbishment of the Italian residential building stock: energy and cost analysis through the application of the building typology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 148-160.
    14. Aurora Greta Ruggeri & Laura Gabrielli & Massimiliano Scarpa, 2020. "Energy Retrofit in European Building Portfolios: A Review of Five Key Aspects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-38, September.
    15. Bobrova, Yekatherina & Papachristos, George & Cooper, Adam, 2022. "Process perspective on homeowner energy retrofits: A qualitative metasynthesis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    16. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2017. "Contestation, contingency, and justice in the Nordic low-carbon energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 569-582.
    17. Yang, Xiu'e & Liu, Shuli & Zou, Yuliang & Ji, Wenjie & Zhang, Qunli & Ahmed, Abdullahi & Han, Xiaojing & Shen, Yongliang & Zhang, Shaoliang, 2022. "Energy-saving potential prediction models for large-scale building: A state-of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    18. Dineen, D. & Rogan, F. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P., 2015. "Improved modelling of thermal energy savings potential in the existing residential stock using a newly available data source," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 759-767.
    19. Ibrahim Ali Kachalla & Christian Ghiaus, 2024. "Electric Water Boiler Energy Prediction: State-of-the-Art Review of Influencing Factors, Techniques, and Future Directions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-32, January.
    20. Knittel, Tamara & Palmer-Wilson, Kevin & McPherson, Madeleine & Wild, Peter & Rowe, Andrew, 2024. "Heating electrification in cold climates: Invest in grid flexibility," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:17:p:4493-:d:1473181. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.