A clever way to save money on energy bills
Get Rich / / December 20, 2019
We are wasting huge amounts of energy. And it's not that we have at home any wrong bulb. In the process of transformation of energy most of it is lost. Only 10% of the thermal energy obtained by burning coal, is converted into light. So, with each unit of energy consumed, we lose another nine units.
But few people think about it. Leaving the house, we do not always turn out the light, leaving working air conditioners and other appliances. In 2003, the researchers decided to conduct an experiment and see how best to persuade people to save electricity.
Behavioral experiment was carried out in the hot summer in San Marcos, California. Graduate students walked through the city and hung on the door of the ad with a call to save energy and use no air conditioning and fans. There were four ad variations. The first referred to the benefits of nature. Secondly he mentioned the amount that can be saved by clicking on the fans. The third appealed to the sense of civic duty. And the fourth, stating that, according to the survey, 77% of neighbors replaced conditioners on ventilators. That it was a success.
I received an unexpected conclusion: no matter how pious any case, nothing - not persuasion or economic benefits - will not force us to go to the inconvenience. Make it a force of only social pressure.
If we believe what the neighbors are doing something better than us, we will try to overtake them.
Some companies already use this method to help customers save energy. For example, Opower, one of the founders who have shared their experiences lecture at TED. They provide reports on energy consumption, comparing your costs with the costs of neighbors living in homes of similar size, and provide personalized recommendations for energy efficiency.