Northwest home buyers' fuel and energy-efficiency preferences

Technical Report · Thu Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6393554· OSTI ID:6393554

Lee, A D; Harkreader, S A; Bruneau, C L; Volke, S M

This study for the Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) investigated home buyers' heating fuel and energy-efficiency preferences, and the influence of incentives on their choices. The study was conducted in four regions of Washington State: Spokane and Pierce Counties, where the Model Conservation Standards (MCS) for new electrically heated homes have been adopted as local code, and King and Clark Counties, where the MCS has been implemented only through a voluntary marketing program. The results of this study provide useful information about energy-efficiency, space heating fuel type, and alternative incentive programs. They provide initial evidence that fuel-specific energy-efficiency standards may significantly affect the shares of different heating fuels in the new home market. They also suggest that cash rebates and utility rate incentives may have a modest effect on the shares for different heating fuels. Because these results are based on a technique relying on hypothetical choices and because they reflect only four metropolitan areas, further study must be conducted to determine whether the results apply to other locations and whether other analytic approaches produce similar findings. 3 refs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6393554
• Report Number(s): PNL-7536; ON: DE91004490
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320100* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Buildings
BUILDINGS
DESIGN
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ELECTRICITY
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
FUEL OILS
FUELS
HEATING OILS
HOUSES
LIQUID FUELS
MARKET
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
STANDARDS