Modeling household energy consumption behavior: A comparative analysis

Household decisions on the energy consumption behavior are with regard to the situations that multiple end-uses (e.g., domestic appliances and vehicles) are simultaneously hold and consumed. To deal with this issue, the multiple discrete–continuous models are the best choices from the behavioral perspective. This study compared two types of utility theory-based multiple discrete–continuous models, which are widely applied in the literature: multiple discrete–continuous extreme value (MDCEV) model and the improved resource allocation model based on the multi-linear function (RAM-MLF). A household energy consumption survey was carried out in Beijing in 2010, and the comparative analysis on the performance of these two models is carried out based on the survey data. Results show that the overall performance of RAM-MLF is slightly superior to the MDCEV model due to the incorporation of the inter-end-use interaction and the relative importance of end uses. Moreover, the utility structure by using the satiation parameters to represent the diminishing marginal utility with the increasing consumption shows better fitness than the structure only using the logarithmic function. These findings can be contributed to understand the household energy consumption behavior, while suggest the potential improvement of the model structure, which is mainly focused on the utility form and the decision making mechanism.