Home heating oil consumption Profiling ‘efficient’ and ‘inefficient’ households

The escalating cost of energy, as well as numerous campaigns promoting conservation, have led to a reduction in energy consumption by households in many countries. Room exists, however, for further savings, particularly in the area of space heating. The major emphasis of the paper is on establishing profiles of two types of households, which are labelled as ‘efficient’ or ‘inefficient’ in their use of heating oil. These two types of households, are profiled in demographic and lifestyle terms. The findings suggest that the profiles of each type are very consistent across the six conservation actions considered. Having profiled the ‘inefficient’ households, certain conservation programme themes are discussed, for these families offer considerable potential (and challenges) for heating oil conservation efforts.