Empirical assessment of socio-technical factors that influence residential electricity use in India

Residential energy (electricity) use in India is projected to increase four-fold by 2030 yet thereis limited data and understanding of how electricity is used in Indian households. This paperempirically investigates how and why electricity is used in Indian dwellings with and withoutair-conditioning (AC), using an interview-based survey approach applied in 41 dwellingslocated across two cities (Hyderabad and Jaipur) representing the composite climate of India.Statistical analysis (multi-variate regression) is used to analyse co-relations between physicalcharacteristics of dwellings (such as built form), income group, occupancy patterns, socio-demographics and appliance usage in AC and non-AC dwellings that influence householdelectricity using behaviours. The study is part of a wider Indo-UK research programme calledRESIDE – Residential Building Energy Demand Reduction.