How much electricity do you use at home? An investigation into householders' literacy for comprehending domestic electricity data

This paper presents the results of a field study that investigated how users read and comprehended their own residential electricity usage data. Nine UK households were provided with a commercial electricity-tracking tool. We conducted a contextual inquiry and had participants think aloud while interpreting a graphical representation of their own domestic electricity consumption data. We were particularly interested if users would be able to understand this energy usage data in relation to their everyday household routines and behaviours. A second follow-up interview was conducted with the same participants three months later to find out whether users were still using the tool and if their understanding of how they use electricity in the home had changed. We found that energy literacy varied greatly within our sample of thirteen users. Across the sample, data comprehension for the graphic representation of the recorded electricity data was poor. The information feedback does not reflect everyday routines and therefore most users do not succeed in linking data patterns with performed actions in the household. The majority of our participants had stopped monitoring their consumption within the first few weeks or months. Those who kept monitoring did not report significant improvement in their understanding.