We are wasting a huge amount of energy. And it's not that we have some wrong light bulbs at home. In the process of energy conversion, most of it is lost. Only 10% of the thermal energy obtained by burning coal is converted into light energy. It turns out that with each unit of energy consumed, we lose another nine units.
But few people think about it. When we leave home, we don't always turn off the lights, leave the air conditioners and other appliances running. In 2003, researchers decided to conduct an experiment and test how best to convince people to save electricity.
The behavioral experiment was conducted in a hot summer in San Marcos, California. Graduate students walked around the city and hung ads on the doors with a call to save electricity and use fans instead of air conditioners. There were four versions of the ads. The first referred to the benefits for nature. Secondly, the amount that can be saved by switching to fans was mentioned. In the third, they appealed to a sense of civic duty. And there was a fourth, which said that, according to the survey, 77% of neighbors replaced air conditioners with fans. It was a success.
The conclusion turned out to be unexpected: no matter how good the cause, nothing — neither exhortations, nor economic benefits — will force us to go to inconvenience. Only social pressure can do this.
If we think that our neighbors are doing something better than us, we will try to overtake them.
Some companies are already using this method to help customers save electricity. For example, Opower, one of the founders of which shared his experience in a TED lecture. They provide reports on energy consumption, comparing your costs with the costs of neighbors living in houses of similar size, and also give personal recommendations for saving electricity.
