Energy Conservation for Low-Income Households

Abstract

Since November 1983, the Southern California Edison Company (SCE) has been offering a free evaporative cooler to low-income customers who alreadypossess an air conditioner. To qualify for a free cooler, a cooler must first be recommended in an SCEenergy audit as being cost-effective. The cooler, which has a much lower k W demand than a typical air conditioner, is to be used not as a replacement for one's air conditioner but rather to supplant it during certain parts of the day, thus reducing k Wh consumption. The research design used is the nonequivalent control group. The econometric analysis indicates that the net reduction due to the installation of a cooler is 2.64 kWh per day.

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