Why do you keep the house so cold? The study suggests that childhood home temperature can predict adults’ thermostat settings

Childhood home temperature and community connection can help predict how U.S. residents set their thermostats, offering new ways to encourage energy conservation and combat climate change, according to a study published July 3 in magazine. PLOS Climate by Dritjon Gruda of the National University of Ireland Maynooth and Paul Hanges of the University of Maryland.

Half of American households’ annual electricity use goes to heating and cooling, but fewer than half of homeowners adjust their thermostats to save energy throughout the day. Reducing residential energy consumption (which accounts for 21% of the US peak energy graph) is therefore a promising strategy for curbing national energy consumption and burning fewer fossil fuels. But first, scientists look for a reliable way to provide evidence to policymakers to encourage home energy conservation.

To investigate why American adults heat and cool their homes the way they do, Gruda and Hanges surveyed 2,128 participants who reported the average winter thermostat settings in their current and childhood homes. They also rated their emotional attachment to their current communities, a metric referred to as “community fit.” The researchers controlled for age, gender and family income, and the participants were representative of the US population.

Results showed that participants’ childhood home temperatures positively predicted their current home temperatures. For example: of people who live in cold winter areas like New York, those who grew up in warmer homes tend to run their thermostats higher than those who grew up in cooler residences.

In addition, the researchers observed that individuals with a strong sense of community belonging were more likely to align their home temperature settings with others in their community. For example: a New Yorker with strong ties to the community might keep the indoor climate cooler, while someone less enamored of the Big Apple might turn up the heat.

These results suggest that “policymakers may need to focus on campaigns that resonate deeply with the unique identity and values ​​of individual communities” to encourage energy conservation, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge that community connectivity may not directly translate into energy savings, particularly in affluent communities, and encourage longitudinal studies to address household income and other contributing factors.

Summarizing, the authors add, “Community adaptation determines how low you set your thermostat during the winter and how much heating energy you save.”