Name: How behavioral science can lower your energy bill
Uploaded: 2013-06-04T15:00:08Z
Duration: 7 min 57 s
Description: What's a proven way to lower your energy costs? Would you believe: learning what your neighbor pays. Alex Laskey shows how a quirk of human behavior can make us all better, wiser energy users, with lower bills to prove it.

What's a proven way to lower your energy costs? Would you believe: learning what your neighbor pays. Alex Laskey shows how a quirk of human behavior can make us all better, wiser energy users, with lower bills to prove it.

How behavioral science can lower your energy bill

People ignore energy use, even as it fuels climate change, but behavioral science reveals an unexpected solution. When homeowners learn how their consumption compares to their neighbors, they reduce energy use far more than with financial or moral appeals. A simple message about neighborhood norms prompted real reductions, saving millions of dollars and vast amounts of electricity. Harnessing this overlooked human instinct could drive dramatic progress on climate and costs.