Study On The Energy-saving Usage Behaviour Of The Residents Of Chongqing Toward Appliance

Chongqing is an important industrial base and one of the municipalities directlyunder the central government. The high-speed economic development of Chongqing hasbeen accompanied with the rising of energy consumption and carbon emissions inrecent years. Family is the basic unit of a society and the economy. Its energyconsumption on water, electricity, gas, petro and so on has become an important part ofenergy consumption. In recent years, along with the popularization of householdappliances and the growing number of household appliance supplying, almost everyfamily has a certain number of household appliances. These appliances consume a largeamount of energy in the residents’ daily life. According to the statistics, energyconsumption of household appliances accounts for about70%of the household carbondioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions of air conditioner, refrigerator and TVreach about half of energy consumption of household appliances. Therefore, in order toalleviate the constrains on Chongqing’s economy development and promote theimplementation of the central government’s commitment to the world: By2020, carbonintensity will be reduced by40%~45%compared with2005. Chongqing governmentshould take effective measures from the perspective of household appliances to helpChongqing residents master the energy-saving tips at home. This paper explores the keyfactors of the appliance usage behavior of residents in Chongqing, and then providessome effective strategies according to those factors.This paper takes Chongqing residents as the research object. It includes two stepsof quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis to explore the formation mechanism ofusage behavior by using standard empirical method. For the quantitative research:Based on the literature review into the usage behavior, energy-saving behavior ofresidents, implementation of energy efficiency policies at home and abroad, the paperproposes a conceptual model to examine the factors influencing the appliances usagebehavior of Chongqing residents from the statistical characteristics of demographic,psychosocial variables, external environmental factors. Then questionnaire survey wasconducted by this research to verify the initial model. For the qualitative research: Toobtain deeper, more comprehensive and reasonable interpretations of Chongqingresidents’ usage behavior to household appliance, this research proposes five variablesthat cover climate characteristics, thermal sensation, comfortable requirement, indoor heat source and indoor sealing to the original model through an in-depth interview oneight residents, and then puts forward a revised model. The results of quantitative studyshow that demographic characteristics have a significant influence on usage behavior.Age and family income among them influence a lot while gender and family decisiondo not. Environmental attitudes, energy-saving consciousness and cognitional level ofproducts have a positive effect on usage behavior. Energy consumption cost andelectricity price subsidies have a reverse effect on usage behavior. The qualitative studyhas also found that climate characteristics, thermal sensation, comfortable requirement,indoor heat source and indoor sealing have a significant influence on usage behavior ofChongqing residents toward household appliances.Based on interpretation of the study’s conclusions, the policy implications ofguiding and promoting family energy-saving behavior are extracted from the angles ofgovernment, production enterprise and distribution enterprises, communities and otherorganizations. Then the relevant suggestions and measures are proposed.