Prompting Thermostat Setting Behavior

Abstract

Variations in prompting procedures have been used widely to encourage energy conservation. Findings generally show that prompts produce relatively small changes. One question of interest is the potential for change when intensive prompts to conserve energy do exist. Two surveys were conducted to assess thermostat setting during the natural gas crisis of 1977, when President Carter appealed to citizens to turn their thermostats to 65 degrees: a door-to-door survey in which thermostat settings were actually observed immediately after President Carter's appeal, and a telephone survey to obtain reports of thermostat settings. The results showed that: (1) only 27% of households had their thermostats set to 65 degrees or lower after President Carter's appeal; (2) those who heard the appeal were not significantly different from those who did not, on a variety of measures; (3) reports of thermostat settings were significantly lower than observed settings; and (4) indirect evidence suggests that citizens made only limited readjustments in thermostat settings as a result of the gas crisis.