A series of controlled randomised experiments was conducted to examine the savings effects for households of three types of energy consumption managers tools: an email + web application, an app installed on a smartphone or tablet and an in-home display. Energy savings could only be established for the in-home display: almost 7% on natural gas and over 2% on electricity consumption.

Why this experiment was conducted: The Netherlands' climate targets
Energy consumption by Dutch households accounts for 15-20% of the Netherlands' CO2 emissions. That consumption has to come down to meet the Netherlands' climate targets. Household behaviour plays a crucial role in determining energy usage in the built environment. Energy consumption managers combined with smart meters can give impetus to energy saving by providing households with feedback on their energy usage. Having insights into their energy usage enables users to make better decisions. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency examined the effectiveness of feedback on achieving energy savings.

Type of intervention: 3 types of energy consumption managers
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, in collaboration with Tilburg University, examined three different energy consumption managers that provide households with insight into their energy consumption. They differed in terms of interface and how energy consumption is displayed:
• an email + web application: an email details how closely the advance utility payment matches actual usage (on one site, it was possible to adjust the advance payment amount)
• an app: energy usage during the previous day or earlier is displayed on a smartphone or tablet
• a simple in-home display: this display installed in the living room or kitchen is continuously visible and provides instant feedback on energy consumption The first two energy consumption managers to be examined were offered free of charge by energy companies to their customers at the time of the study (2018-2019). The in-home display was on sale in the retail market.

Method used: 3 RCTs
A Randomised Controlled Trial was conducted for all three experiments. Subjects were therefore randomly allocated to the control and intervention groups, without self-selection.
• For the in-home display, nearly 1,000 households were monitored for between 7 and 18 months.
• For the app experiment, over 139,000 households were monitored for 18 months.
• The email and web application intervention involved monitoring a total of 135,000 households for 15 months. In all the groups, household energy consumption was measured by means of smart meters before and during the intervention to determine the impact of the feedback. All the households in the in-home-display experiment were also sent an online questionnaire on conclusion of the experiment. In the email + web application experiment, a proportion of households received a questionnaire. A questionnaire was not possible in the app experiment.

Result obtained: In-home display resulted in 5% lower energy bills
Households with an in-home display saved an average of 5% on their energy bills. The group that received the in-home display used 2.2% less electricity and 6.9% less gas than the control group. No energy savings effects could be established for app or email-based energy consumption managers. Although households are generally attracted to energy consumption managers, most of the households surveyed did not believe that the in-home display led to energy savings

Impact: feedback leads to an annual saving of several petajoules
Based on the study performed, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency estimates that by the end of 2019, Dutch households saved a combined total of 4 petajoules per year thanks to the roll-out of the smart meter, the provision at regular intervals of a comprehensive consumption and cost overview and the use of in-home displays. Of this, two-thirds is attributable to the consumption and cost overview provided to the more than 7 million Dutch households fitted with a smart meter. The remaining one-third can be attributed to the 0.4 million in-home displays installed in the Netherlands. Providing feedback on energy consumption can help households save energy. Direct and continuous feedback, as provided by an in-home display, is most effective in this regard.

Source: https://www.binnl.nl/home+-+en/knowledge/publications/bin+nl+publications/HandlerDownloadFiles.ashx?idnv=2719979