Household Energy Efficiency in Ireland — A Replication Study of Ownership of Energy Saving Items

Ownership of energy saving items in the home is surprisingly low in Ireland. Logistic regression analysis of data derived from a survey of households reveals significant reasons for not investing in such items. The reasons are somewhat similar to those found by Brechling and Smith for the United Kingdom. Lack of information, non-appropriability, small potential saving, restricted access to credit and transactions costs play an important role, leaving only a minority of non-owners who are model-inconsistent and who are possibly non-optimisers. Some policy implications are outlined.