TPD
the poor dad
Turns out that home energy report SMECO sends to us actually causes us to cut energy usage by 2%. But it is more effective with liberals than it is with conservatives.
http://wapo.st/1A0awZP
http://wapo.st/1A0awZP
Sometimes, sharing this knowledge triggered an unexpected twist: Residents told they were using more energy than peers used#less, but those who were using less energy actually increased it – a response dubbed a “boomerang effect” by the authors.#When smiley faces were included in the messages, however, that stopped. Instead, homes using more energy than average – earning#a frown – reduced their use, while homes using less than average – receiving a smiley face – just kept on#saving.
The result? Not only did the study find that the home energy report was “two to four times more effective” for liberals than for conservatives at reducing their energy use. It also found that conservatives were “more likely than liberals to opt out of receiving the home electricity report and to report disliking the report.”
In other words, conservatives may be a tougher sell — and different methods might be needed to help them save energy.#“What works in California may not work in Lubbock, Texas,” the authors wrote.
But the story isn’t over: In a#subsequent analysis,#Opower found different results in a sample of over 100,000 Midwestern customers. Conservatives used more energy overall – by 3 percent – but actually saved a sliver more after receiving home energy reports for 2.5 years. Proceeding to look at other regions of the country, Opower found that only in the Mountain West did liberals cut their energy use significantly more than conservatives after receiving the report.