Energy wasting a matter of ignorance

Today is the Warm Sweater Day on campus. The heating at the university is set one degree lower in order to save 7% of energy. Many Dutch people are poorly informed about their own energy consumption. 43% don’t know how much they pay for their monthly energy bill. This is shown by the research Residential Energy Literacy and Capitalization.

27% of households use their thermostat to save energy. If the heating in your dorm is set properly it can do miracles: set heating to a lower position at night and the energy consumption can decrease by 11%. “It’s not a matter of reluctance, but of ignorance,” said Dirk Brounen, one of the researchers. 40% of the Dutch have difficulty with the assessment of energy saving methods, both short and long term. They also have too little theoretical knowledge to make this assessment.