Flemish people weigh comfort against energy savings – But how many of these strategies are already part of the Flemish savings palette?

An article by Stephanie Van Hove and Peter Conradie, imec

Rising energy prices have been a concern for months. Within NUDGE, imec-mict investigates the energy behaviour of the Flemish with the aim of facilitating sustainable behavioural change.

👉 A sample of 1133 Flemish people shows that families take a series of savings measures. 6 out of 10 families turn off the lights, close windows, don’t let the water run and prefer showering to taking a bath.

👉 However, the most commonly taken measures do not always result in the greatest energy savings. More than 9 in 10 families always turn off the lights when leaving the room while ‘only’ 1 in 3 switches off devices to prevent slumber consumption.

👉 The results show that families put comfort above saving. For example, in 17% of families the thermostat is rarely or never turned down, 23% rarely or never wear an extra sweater in exchange for a degree lower and 54% rarely or never lower the boiler temperature.

Would you like to know more about our research? Read the full article available now: