SMECO Home Energy Report - Liberals vs Conservatives

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

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.
 

TPD

the poor dad
Another interesting piece in the article-

In a March 2009 broadcast, conservative show host Rush Limbaugh told a story that (like many of his) would make a liberal’s#jaw drop. He had been watching Larry King the night before, he said, where he heard Alanis Morissette and Edward Norton tell#people to turn their lights off for an hour as part of a worldwide “Earth Hour” event.
So Limbaugh proceeded to do the opposite. “I wanted to make sure I could use as much damn power as I could,” he said. “I turned the thermostats down to 70 degrees, 68 degrees. I turned on every light in the#house! I turned on every light in the back yard and aimed ‘em down so they wouldn’t hit the turtles! I mean, I had my house#lit up like a Christmas tree last night.”
The conservation message, for Limbaugh, had backfired. It didn’t make him want to save energy. It made him want to consume,#and thumb his nose at environmentalists.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
My guess is that conservatives are more interested in saving money than waging war with Mother Nature and her whimsical climate.
 

PsyOps

Pixelated
The annoying part is 1) everyone I talk to says their notice tells them they use more energy than everyone else and 2) I don't need SMECO to remind me where I stand against my neighbors in energy usage. I'm going to use what I use based on what I feel I need. My electric bill is my gauge.
 
How does SMECO know who is liberal and who is Conservative. I don't remember them ever having asked.

Surveys.

I know I wasn't called.

The study didn't relate to SMECO in particular, it was done in California.

I think the OP's point is that those kinds of reports - the same kind that we get from SMECO - have this kind of effect, and tend to have differing effects depending on one being liberal or conservative. I'd guess the study asked whether someone was conservative or liberal, or asked questions from which they could draw reasonable conclusions on that front.
 
The annoying part is 1) everyone I talk to says their notice tells them they use more energy than everyone else and 2) I don't need SMECO to remind me where I stand against my neighbors in energy usage. I'm going to use what I use based on what I feel I need. My electric bill is my gauge.

Mine always tells me I use less than my neighbors. When my roommates moved out, that made a big difference - before that I was sometimes above my neighbors, but for the most part in the same ballpark.

Getting my Nest thermostat a couple of years ago made a big difference for me as well. I've found that I have a far better intuitive sense of when I'm wasting money now, so I don't waste nearly as much. And beyond the general sense that it gives me, it saves me energy and thus money by automatically adjusting settings when I'm away for significant periods of time or inactive for long periods (which typically means I'm asleep).

I'd add that, aside from regulating thermal conditions, I tend to be fairly wasteful - e.g., I leave lights and TVs and computers and such on. But those things don't matter nearly as much as the thermal manipulation stuff, so I still end up with relatively low electricity bills.
 
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PsyOps

Pixelated
Mine always tells me I use less than my neighbors. When my roommates moved out, that made a big difference - before that I was sometimes above my neighbors, but for the most part in the same ballpark.

Getting my Nest thermostat a couple of years ago made a big difference for me as well. I've found that I have a far better intuitive sense of when I'm wasting money now, so I don't waste nearly as much. And beyond the general sense that it gives me, it saves me energy and thus money by automatically adjusting settings when I'm away for significant periods of time or inactive for long periods (which typically means I'm asleep).

I'd add that, aside from regulating thermal conditions, I tend to be fairly wasteful - e.g., I leave lights and TVs and computers and such on. But those things don't matter nearly as much as the thermal manipulation stuff, so I still end up with relatively low electricity bills.

I live in a fairly large house and don’t have the most efficient heat pumps. I’m too cheap to invest in an upgrade. Kind of ironic I’m willing to pay more in electric bill than pay the price for the upgrade. I think the big problem is, when we moved in we finished the basement and that’s tied to the main floor system that wasn’t designed for that size. And we like to keep it warm in the house. I absolutely hate being cold. FL is in my future.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
I live in a fairly large house and don’t have the most efficient heat pumps. I’m too cheap to invest in an upgrade. Kind of ironic I’m willing to pay more in electric bill than pay the price for the upgrade. I think the big problem is, when we moved in we finished the basement and that’s tied to the main floor system that wasn’t designed for that size. And we like to keep it warm in the house. I absolutely hate being cold. FL is in my future.

I wouldn't say you are cheap, they can talk savings all they want, but do you (we, me) have the cash to make that upfront investment for the new system?
Need to replace A/C this year, had a pitch from one company about all the money I would save with the GP6000 (gold platted).
Well it might cover the price difference in 10 years, but I may not be in the house in 10 years and frankly don't have the extra couple of K to sink into the high end system.
 

Vince

......
Use less than my neighbors in the winter and more in the summer. :shrug: I haven't changed my ways because their report comes out.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
The SMECO reports *always* say I use a lot more than my neighbors - BUT -

They're somehow under the impression that my square footage is about 60% of what it actually IS. So the report will compare me to MUCH smaller houses in the area. Now, I use CFL's and lower my thermostat and hell, I yank the dryer exhaust in winter to vent inside. I use those plastic sheets to cover the leakier windows and so forth. I do the best I can but I still use a lot because my house is old and drafty and it would take much more than I can afford to insulate enough to bring it down. It would cost thousands - to bring down the electric a hundred. Unless I plan to be here for life, it's good money chasing bad.
 

PsyOps

Pixelated
I wouldn't say you are cheap, they can talk savings all they want, but do you (we, me) have the cash to make that upfront investment for the new system?
Need to replace A/C this year, had a pitch from one company about all the money I would save with the GP6000 (gold platted).
Well it might cover the price difference in 10 years, but I may not be in the house in 10 years and frankly don't have the extra couple of K to sink into the high end system.

This is where I wished I had boned up on my HVAC skills. I could install my own.
 
H

Hodr

Guest
I don't remember ever receiving this report. I would actually like to see how I compare. It wouldn't affect my habits as I already conserve about as much as possible without doing some major remodeling / energy efficiency upgrades. Of course if it said I don't use as much as the neighbors my wife might take that as an excuse to raise the thermostat a couple of degrees.
 

Apparently I'm even more of a liberal than we thought. I just looked at the latest energy report that I got from SMECO, it has me well below my efficient neighbors even though it's comparing me to neighbors with homes of significantly less square footage. I hadn't noticed that latter part before. It's comparing mine to homes averaging less than 2,100 square feet, my home is more like 4,000 square feet - though some of that is unfinished basement, it's still conditioned.

The report still has me below 1,300 kWh for the December / January period versus about 1,600 kWh for my efficient neighbors and over 2,200 kWh for all my neighbors. I must be a full-fledged commie. :frown:

Or maybe it's just that I'm the only one (regularly) living here now and I keep the heat set at 56 degrees. :smile:
 

steppinthrax

Active Member
Another reason to run Nat Gas lines through the county. In Nat gas, people will heat their homes using a gas furnaces, instead of a heat pump. In this case a gas furnace is efficient.
 

NorthBeachPerso

Honorary SMIB
Another reason to run Nat Gas lines through the county. In Nat gas, people will heat their homes using a gas furnaces, instead of a heat pump. In this case a gas furnace is efficient.

As you've been told before, that horse left the barn decades ago. The density here isn't high enough to justify the cost for the gas company (nor could most people be able to afford it) to install service, especially as a retrofit. It's the same as cable in some areas, not enough customers for Comcast, or whatever, to install the wiring. Parts of southern Prince George's and Charles Counties are like that.
 
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