Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

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Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

Requirement of Improving Energy Efficiency

For decades, energy conservation has been one of the most discussed, engaging, and
exciting topics for the environmental sciences. Several types of research are conducted upon
concerns releasing for the possible fuel consumption depletion of fossil, energy crisis and
environmental problem. Climate change caused due to the threat of global warming is the main
reason behind the willingness to conserve energy used in households. In the past few years,
energy consumption in the residential sector has been increasing in almost all homes [1].
Households require energy to provide power to multiple types of equipment and home devices
present in the average household. The winter season is upon us, which requires an increase in
household energy consumption, which causes a lot of wastage. It is significantly essential to
address the problem of energy consumption being used in households on a daily basis. This
activity can be improved by interventions taken into account of the suggested efficiency and can
be improved by analysing the rebound effect of those interventions. Recently through multiple
efficient heating systems adopted by insulating materials and wind ventilation systems, the
energy consumption in winters has decreased. Many household factors are required to adopt
more efficient diffusion in buildings by putting energy efficient electric appliances and reducing
the energy used for space heating. Every year, energy consumption increases, requiring the
system to improve to reduce the impact of environmental footprints.

Suggested Interventions
Appliances
The prices for electricity consumption have been rising significantly for years until
households are concerned primarily for the cost of living in many countries. There are many
other renewable energy options available in the market which can be used and cut a big chunk of
energy consumption bills from the household budgets. For households, it is generally suggested
to switch off their appliances. At the same time, they are not being used rather than putting them
on standby mode because they will be using energy by staying on [2]. By turning them off,
energy consumption can be reduced. It is also suggested to research before buying appliances
and look for options of energy efficient appliances because they create more considerable change
in the energy consumption of households.

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Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

Conservation in Heating and Cooling System

According to the weather requirement, energy can be conserved by insulating the roof’s
ceiling to keep the household maintained at a pleasant temperature. This is an effective way of
saving energy and the cost of bills. It is also suggested to seal the household windows and doors
properly by draught proofing, which is cheaply available. Also, sealing the chimneys with
temperature can also help in maintaining temperature in winter and during warmer months
because it will stop the hot or cold air from coming inside. It is also suggested to switch from
halogen down lights to LED lights because down lights will be penetrating the insulation, which
can cause the gain or loss of heat and requires more energy to maintain the temperature [3].
There are also multiple ways of maintaining temperature, like installing ceiling fans which are
cheaper than air conditioning and take less energy by creating less impact on the environment.
Another suggestion is to shade the windows and close all the external doors and the windows by
adequately sealing them.

Water Conservation
It is advised to households to buy products which have labelling of WELS “(Water
Efficiency Labelling and Standards)” these products allow the household to stay water efficient.
The ratings are advised to be reviewed before buying new dishwashers, urinals, washing
machines, toilets, showers, and taps. The collection of rainwater is also an ideal source to water
the garden. This strategy can be adopted by installing a rainwater tank. Water recycling should
also be adopted in doing many house chores. Installing a shower head with improved water
efficiency is a bit of great advice for saving water daily. In the water system of gravity fed, water
can flow from the tanks into the taps without the requirement of being pumped [4]. To adopt this
system, it is required to install a shower head that can cope with the low pressure design of
water.

Transportation
Rather than using a fuel efficient car, it's a good idea to travel through public transport. If
you are willing to visit the neighborhood, then it's a good idea to adopt walking or take a cycle to
conserve energy. It is also suggested to select the option of car polling whenever it is possible.
Suppose an individual can afford an electric vehicle [1]. In that case, it is advised to invest in the
one-time asset that will also help sustain energy, and fuel emission will be decreased overall.

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Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

Utilization of Green Power

Every year greenhouse gases, around 14 tons, are emitted by the average household. Most
of which is consumed by generating electricity [5]. This greenhouse gas emission is one of the
significant contributors to global warming and climate change. One of the cheapest, relative and
straightforward ways of initiating the difference is to switch to Green Power from the electricity
supply. This strategy can be adopted by utilizing Renewable Sources for power generation such
as sun, waste power, water, and wind, rather than using gas or coal for power generation. Green
Power is reachable for all the households, but the availability of Green Power is slightly costly
than the charges of standard electricity. A great way to adopt Green Power is by installing a
system of solar panels on the rooftop of your household.

Rebound Effect
The rebound effect can be defined as an economic phenomenon that aims to control the
potential consumption of energy by implementing specific interventions so that energy efficiency
can be improved [4]. The rebound effect is further divided into three types:

Direct Rebound Effect

The direct rebound effect is the increase of using those products which are comparatively
cheaper to use than expensive products [4]. If a household is becoming more energy efficient, the
cost saved from paying bills will be invested into buying more electric appliances, which will
require energy consumption. These examples are the explanation of the direct rebound effect.
The cooling and heating system of the households and personal system of transportation is
directly affected by the rebound effect in developed countries by less than 30%. But according to
the research, it has been found that the demand will be saturated shortly, which will decrease the
direct rebound effects on the services of energy [2].

Indirect Rebound Effect

The indirect Rebound effect is found when specific services are available at a lower cost
which causes more utilization of other services and household appliances [3]. The example of the
indirect rebound effect, in this case, is the overall effect of Energy Efficiency will cause the
decrease in the cost of services which will result in households buying more appliances that will
utilize more electricity.

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Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

Economy Wide Rebound effect

The economy-wide rebound effect combines the direct and indirect rebound effect, which
increases the percentage of energy saving for a particular time through energy-efficient systems
[6]. The overall rebound effect by implementing the interventions to make household energy
efficient will be having a direct or indirect effect on the economy-wide rebound effect of a
specific country.

Rebound Effect Associated with Households Energy Efficiency

Many improvements made to stay energy efficient do not turn into reducing energy
consumption by the rate of prediction that was made through simple engineering models.
Improvements made by households to conserve energy turn on energy services cheaper,
ultimately increasing energy services’ consumption which ultimately increases the consumption
of energy services [3]. The example can be taken from the vehicles offering fuel efficiency can
consume more fuel by making more travel plans through that vehicle which will ultimately
consume more energy/ this is a perfect example to offset the energy saving goals. Similarly,

Multiple strategies are advised to conserve energy in the household so that energy
efficiency can be improved. One of the significant reasons behind selecting the energy efficiency
of households is the rate of energy consumption in households is increasing every year, which
requires a lot of thought processes and strategies to create overall change. Many suggestions are
made to become an energy efficient household. After suggesting, it has been realized that every
suggestion can be directly affected by the rebound effect. All the costs saved through the
implementation of the suggested intervention will be invested into buying new appliances, which
will be using more energy than before. The reduction of energy consumption should be improved
by energy efficiency so that the target of 70 % reduction of energy services can be achieved. In
most developed countries, energy efficiency improvement reacts to the rebound effect at an
increasing rate since energy services, demand, and supply are far from the saturated requirement.

After a certain period of implementing the interventions, the economy will start
improving the rate of Energy Efficiency. As that period goes by, the boom in energy
consumption will start rising again due to the rebound effect since the money saved from Energy
Efficiency will be invested in other options or appliances which will require energy. For

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Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

example, suppose people are saving from transportation and home appliances energy
consumption. In that case, they might save enough to spend a luxurious holiday in Spain,
ultimately resulting in spending more energy than before. The rebound effect represents this
ongoing process of energy consumption interventions, which ultimately reflects on some other
option that requires energy [7].

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Rebound Effect on Energy Efficiency in Households

References

[1] T. Santarius, "Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Berlin, and Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and
Energy,," Heinrich B öll Foundation, Berlin, 2012.

[2] O. G. Santin, "Occupant behaviour in energy efficient dwellings: evidence of a rebound effect.,"
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 311-327, 2013.

[3] A. Bongers, "Energy efficiency, emission energy, and the environment.," Energy RESEARCH
LETTERS, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 13186, 2020.

[4] D. F. M. W. F.-G. J. K. R. &. v. d. V. E. Vivanco, "The foundations of the environmental rebound

effect and its contribution towards a general framework," Ecological Economics, vol. 125, pp. 60-69,
2016.

[5] P. E. S. S. S. G. H. M. K. &. C. V. Brockway, "Energy efficiency and economy-wide rebound effects:

A review of the evidence and its implications.," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, p.
110781, 2021.

[6] K. R. D. &. W. G. Gillingham, "The rebound effect and energy efficiency policy," Review of
Environmental Economics and Policy, 2020.

[7] R. Galvin, " Making the ‘rebound effect’more useful for performance evaluation of thermal retrofits
of existing homes: defining the ‘energy savings deficit’and the ‘energy performance gap’," Energy
and buildings, no. 69, pp. 515-524, 2014.

[8] K. K. M. J. R. D. S. &. W. G. Gillingham, "The rebound effect is overplayed. Nature," vol. 493, no.
7433, pp. 475-476, 2013.