Beth Karlin is a research psychologist and director of the Transformational Media Lab at UC Irvine. Her lab studies how media and technology can promote social and environmental change. She has conducted over 100 studies on how energy use feedback impacts energy conservation behaviors. On average, feedback leads to 10% savings, but the effects vary significantly based on the population, duration, frequency, medium, level of disaggregation, and type of comparison/message provided. Her current work is investigating these moderating factors in more detail to better understand how feedback can most effectively promote energy savings.

1. Psychological Research on
Energy Feedback
Beth Karlin
Transformational Media Lab
University of California, Irvine
Papers listed here. Contact me for details: bkarlin@uci.edu.

2. Beth Bio
2
B. Karlin
About Me
I am an academic who believes the role of a researcher is not only to
better understand the world but also to improve it and I devote my
time equally to both goals. I work as a research psychologist, social
change strategist, and program evaluator.
My primary position is at UC Irvine as the founder and Director of the
Transformational Media Lab (TML) within the Center for
Unconventional Security Affairs (CUSA). My lab studies the role of
media and technology in social and environmental change. Current
projects investigate the design and use of technology-enabled feedback,
public acceptance of new technology, audience engagement in
documentary film, and media-based social activism.
In addition to my role at the University, I also work with government,
private, and non-profit organizations on the design, implementation,
and evaluation of media and technology programs for behavior change.

3. Energy Feedback
3
B. Karlin

4. What are we missing?
4
B. Karlin

5. Is Feedback Effective?
— 100+ studies conducted since 1976
— Reviews found average 10% savings
— Mean r-effect size = .1174 (p < .001)
(from negative effects to over 20% savings)
B. Karlin
• Significant variability in effects
Karlin, Ford & Zinger. (2014). The Effects of Feedback on Energy
Conservation: A Preliminary Theory 5 and Meta-Analysis. Under Review

6. It Depends…
Moderators identified in meta-analysis
• Study population (WHO?)
• Study duration (HOW LONG?)
• Frequency of feedback (HOW OFTEN?)
• Feedback medium (WHAT TYPE?)
• Disaggregation (WHAT AMOUNT?)
• Comparison (WHAT MESSAGE?)
B. Karlin
6
Karlin, Ford & Zinger. (2014). The Effects of Feedback on Energy
Conservation: A Preliminary Theory and Meta-Analysis. Under Review

7. Is Feedback Effective?
WHAT
WHO
WHEN
WHERE WHY
HOW
B. Karlin
Ford, Karlin, &McCullough. (2014). The 5W’s of Feedback: An Analytical Framework
Investigating the Potential of Energy Feedback Technologies. In Preparation.
7

8. Who?
Karlin
27%
37% Aware of devices
35%
Aware, but not specific
Not aware of feedback
38%
62%
Adopted
Not adopted
Had no idea that these exist.
I have never heard about this kind of mechanism
as I have not been proactive in learning about it.
Karlin, Davis, Sanguinetti, Gamble, Figuera, Baker, Kirkby, & Stokols. Diffusion of Feedback:
Perceptions and Adoption of Devices in the Residential 8 Market. In Preparation.

9. Who?
Variable Feedback users Non-feedback users
Gender*** 46% female
54% male
70% female
30% male
Age** 45.5 years 39.9 years
Race 81.7% Caucasian
1.2% Hispanic
6.1% Asian
1.2% African-American
9.7% Other/Decline
81.8% Caucasian
6.7% Hispanic
6.1% Asian
1.6% African-American
3.8% Other/Decline
Marital Status* 62% married
38% not married
52% married
48% not married
Political Affiliation* 2.04 2.33
Education 17.9 years 17.4 years
Income** $104,000 $88,000
Home Type ** 74% detached house
26% apartment/condo/other
53% detached house
47% apartment/condo/other
Homeowner*** 82% own
18% rent
57% own
43% rent
B. Karlin
9 Karlin, Davis, Sanguinetti, Gamble, Figuera, Baker, Kirkby, & Stokols. Diffusion of Feedback:
Perceptions and Adoption of Devices in the Residential Market. In Preparation.

10. Who?
Variable Feedback users
Non-feedback users
Environmental
- Environmental Concern*** 4.40 4.18
- Environmental Motivation** 3.18 2.80
Financial
- Price Conciousness* 0.70 0.59
- Financial Motivation** 2.67 3.07
Social
- Social Norms 3.04 2.92
- Social Motivation 1.95 1.83
* p < .05, ** p < .01, p < .001
10 Karlin, Davis, Sanguinetti, Gamble, Figuera, Baker, Kirkby, & Stokols. Diffusion of Feedback:
Perceptions and Adoption of Devices in the Residential Market. In Preparation.

11. Why?
Tracking Learning
“Interesting in tracking instantaneous home energy use overall”
“would help to have a timer so that the
information provided could be tracked over the
exact amount of time. “to educate myself and learn about
“I like to check myself to make sure I’m on track”
“to learn my energy/carbon footprint”
programs that might apply to me”
Okay for researching and learning, but not
for modifying behavior on an ongoing basis”
“Learning how high the wall voltage was in my area”
“it is interesting to change your
behavior and then track how your
energy use changes over time”
11 Karlin, B. (2011). Tracking and learning: Exploring dual functions of residential energy feedback. In
Proceedings, 6th Annual International Conference on Persuasive Technology. Columbus, OH: ACM.

12. Why?
Tracking Learning
Happens over time Happens in a moment
Many “bits” of information One “bit” of information
Not necessarily correlated to specific action(s) Enables specific action/behavior change
Enables comparisons (e.g., historical, social) Does not provide comparable information
Provides additional motivation for
conservation behavior (e.g. competition, goal)
Potential for rebound and/or decreased
attention to smaller conservation behaviors
Generally associated with aggregate
(whole-home) feedback
Generally associated with disaggregated
(appliance-specific) feedback
12 Karlin, B. (2011). Tracking and learning: Exploring dual functions of residential energy feedback. In
Proceedings, 6th Annual International Conference on Persuasive Technology. Columbus, OH: ACM.

13. What Amount?
Temporal Granularity
• Monthly 12
• Daily 365
• Hourly 8,760
• Continuous 31,536,000
B. Karlin
Ford, Karlin, &McCullough. (2014). The 5W’s of Feedback: An Analytical Framework
Investigating the Potential of Energy Feedback 13 Technologies. In Preparation.

14. What Amount?
(up to 6.3 trillion data points/year)
blu-ray netflix
streaming
200 microsecond sampling
B. Karlin
Kirkby, Stokols, Karlin, Davis, Sanguinetti,& 14 Gamble. uci@home project

15. What Amount?
Ford & Karlin. (2013). Graphical Displays in Energy Feedback Technology: A Cognitive Approach.
In: Proceedings of the Human Computer Interaction (HCII) Conference, 15 Las Vegas, NV: ACM.

16. What type?
1079 KwH/year
65.9 Billion
5.8% of average home
$$$
$.25/load
$85/year
B. Karlin
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17. What type?
B. Karlin
Impacts of leaving your router on when not in use
1
2
3
4
5
Leaving your router on wastes energy.
Turning your router off when not in use saves .07 kWh per day.
If you turn your router off when not in use, you can save $2.63/year.
A router left on all day uses the equivalent of 37 AA batteries.
If all Americans turn off routers, we would save over $800 million/year.
Karlin & Ford. Framing messages in energy 17 feedback. In Preparation.

18. What Type?
10%
5%
15%
2%
20%
average
savings
Ehrhardt-­‐Martinez
et
al.,
2010;
EPRI,
2009
B. Karlin, 2013
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19. What Type?
B. Karlin
Karlin, B., Ford, R. & Squiers, C. Energy feedback technology: a review and
taxonomy of products and platforms. 19 Energy Efficiency, 7(3), 377-399.

20. Hardware
Communication
Control
Display
Data
Collection
Proprietary
Communications
Feedback
Product
Management
Platform
Device
Network
No
Yes
Information
Network
Management
Network
In
Home
Control
Home
Area
Network
Distributed
Display
Service
Load
Monitor
Grid
Display
Sensor
Display
Networked
Sensor
Appliance
Monitor
In
Home
Display
Information
Platform
No
Yes
No
Embedded
Various
Autonomous
Distributed
Various
Appliance
Sensor
Grid
Sensor
Sensor
N/A
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
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Karlin, B., Ford, R. & Squiers, C. Energy feedback technology: a review and
taxonomy of products and platforms. Energy Efficiency, 7(3), 377-399.

21. What Outcome?
Karlin, Ford, & Rottman. (2015). Beyond kWh: A Framework for Assessing
Behavior-Based Energy Interventions. IEA Task 24 Subtask 3 Report. B. Karlin
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22. Thank you!
Beth Karlin
Transformational Media Lab
University of California, Irvine
bkarlin@uci.edu
Co-Authors
— David Kirkby, Physics
— Daniel Stokols, Psychology and Social Behavior
— Nora Davis, Social Ecology
— Angela Sanguinetti, Planning, Policy, and Design
— Kristen Gamble, Psychology and Social Behavior
— Kristen Figueira, UCLA
— Jessie Baker, NYU
— Rebecca Ford, Victoria University of Wellington
— Sea Rottman, International Energy Agency
— Cassandra Squiers, UC Santa Barbara
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