The heterogeneity in energy consumption patterns and home appliance purchasing preferences across urban households in China

The heterogeneity in energy consumption between households has long been neglected, leading to the low effectiveness of one-size-fits-all demand-side policies. Here, we investigate energy consumption patterns and home appliance purchasing preferences of different urban households. In this study, 1921 urban households in China were empirically classified into four groups based on their socio-demographic characteristics. It is found that low- and middle-income small-size households have a latecomer energy consumption pattern and a rational home appliance purchasing preference, low-income large-size households correspond to an old-fashion pattern and an economic preference, middle- and high-income large-size households show a moderate pattern and a neutral preference, and high-income small-size households perform a modern pattern and a pro-environmental preference. The inter-group comparison indicates that income increase will promote energy consumption patterns to be more low-carbon and modern. Meanwhile, the demographic transition to small-size family may lead to a carbon-intensive energy lifestyle for middle-income households, while high-income households can have a more saving and green energy consumption pattern. In addition, the scenario analysis indicates that one-size-fits-all policies failed to account for everyone. The findings presented here can inform authorities of the necessity and directions of designing common but differentiated household energy-saving policies.