Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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Title
THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MARKET FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN RESIDENTIAL APPLIANCES
INCLUDING HEATING AND COOLING EQUIPMENT
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https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fn8v39z
Authors
Ruderman, H.
Levine, M.D.
McMahon, J.E.
Publication Date
1984-09-01
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LBL-15304
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Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
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DOCUMENTS SECTIOPJ
Submitted to the RAND Journal
THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MARKET FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY
IN RESIDENTIAL APPLIANCES INCLUDING HEATING AND
COOLING EQUIPMENT
H. Ruderman, M.D. Levine, and J.E. McMahon
APPLIED SCIENCE
DIVISION
1
LI4
Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC03-76SF00098
DISCLAIMER
This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States
Government. While this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the
United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor the Regents of the University of
California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or
assumes any legal responsibilitY for the accuracY, completeness1 or usefulness of any
or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not
information, apparatus product1
infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product,
process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not
necessarily constitute or imply its
e
ndorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the
United States Government or any agency thereof, or the Regents of the University of
California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or
reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or the Regents of the
University of California.
LBL- 15304
THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MARKET FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN RESIDENTIAL
APPLIANCES INCLUDING HEATING AND COOLING EQUIPMENT
Henry Ruderman, Mark D. Levine and James E. McMahon
Energy Analysis Program
Applied Science Division
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Berkeley, California 94720
September 1984
This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy, Office of
Building Energy Research and Development, Building Equipment Division of the U.S. Department of Ener-
gy under Contract Number DE-AC03-76SF000098.
ABSTRACT
This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the behavior of the market for the purchase
of energy efficiency in residential appliances including heating and cooling equipment. We
examine the historical efficiency choices during the period 1972-80 for eight consumer pro-
ducts. We characterize the behavior of the market for these products by an aggregate market
discount rate. The major finding of this study is that the overall market discount rates for
major household appliances are high (ranging from about 20 to over 800 percent). They appear
to be relatively constant, even though fuel prices escalated rapidly during this time. We con-
clude from these results that the market for energy efficiency is not performing well.