The Decarbonization Melting Pot: Regional Study of Household Preferences & Insights from US Households

Like most aspects of American society, home energy upgrade decisions are influenced by where we are and who we listen to. It turns out, that the region we live in plays an important role in how we choose to adopt technology related to residential decarbonization. This means that to be the most successful, we need to change how we discuss energy efficiency and decarbonization depending on what resonates most with home occupants. In this presentation we will provide insight from a one-of-a-kind survey conducted in the U.S., reaching 10,000 homeowner and renter households. We looked at how technology is adopted regionally and found that not only are there dramatic differences in where heat pumps and induction stoves are being installed, but also in motivations for installing technology, and general household preferences as well. Households in the Southeast resonate more with home aesthetics, while households in the West care more about potential health impacts. Actual technology adoption was roughly 40% lower than expressed willingness to adopt, led by the West, which in general has seen higher rates of adoption. Join us to dig into these regional differences and discuss the important implications they have on residential decarbonization policy and program messaging.