End-uses of electricity in households of Karnataka state, India

This paper describes the results of a survey of electricity consumption in a sample consisting of 1,165 households in four districts of Karnataka state in India. The survey revealed the patterns of consumption of electricity in AEH [1] and non-AEH [2] households, the stock of electrical appliances used by the households, the differences in the consumption of electricity in urban and rural areas, the use of other sources of energy for domestic purposes, and the degree of penetration of energy-efficient appliances/devices. The analysis of electricity consumption of appliances in AEH households showed that the consumption of electricity is mainly due to lighting, air circulation, water-heating and cooking. In non-AEH households, the end-uses accounting for most of the consumption of electricity are lighting, entertainment and air circulation. The survey also yielded the appliance elasticities and the degree of penetration of energy-efficient devices. As a result policy-makers can take corrective actions by promoting efficiency improvements in certain end-use devices so that increases in the penetration of these devices would not significantly affect the overall electricity requirement for the domestic sector.