Deep experiments for deep transitions – low-income households as sites of participation and socio-technical change in new energy systems

•The challenges of energy poverty and vulnerability are insufficiently addressed in current approaches to household energy experimentation.•This paper points to the need for developing alternative strategies for household experimentation that better can support transformative changes in energy systems.•Drawing on an analysis of low-income households' energy practices, the paper presents a framework, consisting of three key dynamics, that supports this end.•The framework highlights the specific needs and vulnerabilities of low-income households in energy experimentation and discusses alternative experimental approaches. This paper links the literature on energy poverty and energy vulnerability with the experimental focus of current energy transition initiatives and argues for the need to expand household experimentation beyond technology adoption. Drawing on an analysis of low-income households’ energy using practices we develop a framework consisting of three key dynamics, 1) predictability – flexibility, 2) sufficiency – efficiency and 3) activation – exploitation. The dynamics prompt a discussion on how conventional demand-side tools, such as pricing schemes and technology implementation programs, can be adapted to better suit the needs of vulnerable households. Additionally, they showcase the possibility of experimenting with new and innovative ways to bring about more radical change, e.g. sufficiency experiments and revitalising “forgotten” practices. We argue that the framework can serve as an empirically grounded basis for designing deeper and more socially just and needs-oriented household energy experiments needed for sustainability transitions to become successful.