Encouraging electricity savings in a university residential hall through a combination of feedback, visual prompts, and incentives
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Measuring Light-Switching Behavior Using an Occupancy and Light Data Logger
Published on: January 16, 2020
Marthinus J Bekker1, Tania D Cumming, Nikola K P Osborne
1University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Abstract:
This experiment investigated the combined use of visual prompts, daily feedback, and rewards to reduce electricity consumption in a university residential hall. After a 17-day baseline period, the experimental intervention was introduced in the intervention hall, and no change was made in the control hall. Energy usage decreased in the intervention hall, but energy usage did not change appreciably in the control hall. In the intervention hall, mean daytime and nighttime savings were 16.2% and 10.7%, respectively, compared to savings of 3.8% (day) and 6.5% (night) in the control hall.
Related Concept Videos
Electrical Energy
Energy Conservation and Bernoulli's Equation
All the terms in the equation have the dimension of energy per unit volume. The kinetic energy per unit volume is called the kinetic energy density, and the potential energy per unit volume is...
Insulation Coordination
Household Wiring And Electrical Safety
Electrical Power
Electrical Systems
To derive the transfer function, consider an RLC circuit...
