Digitalization of consumer behavior - A descriptive analysis of energy use in the shower

In order to develop effective technologyor behavior-based energy conservation measures, it is necessary to quantify the impact of consumer behavior and to understand what drives the variance in individuals’ energy consumption. While sensors and communication technologies are becoming more and more ubiquitous, surprisingly little data is still available on many aspects of consumer behavior in the energy sector. Water heating is the second largest energy use in households – yet, data on hot water consumption and on factors influencing the variance in that domain is particularly scarce. We analyze a smart meter data set comprising 5,610 individual showers. We find that the average shower consumes 43.9 liters of water and 2.60 kWh heat energy. The high observed variance in consumption values within and between households suggests a large potential for energy savings. Furthermore, we investigate correlations between energy use and consumer characteristics (sociodemographic factors and environmental attitudes).