Introduction
Household energy consumption is a socio-technical phenomenon , arising from interactions between people and technology ( Lutzenhiser 1993 ). In the case of households ’ thermal environment , the energy saving potential decreased under the update of residential building codes and progress of technology in China . The impact of occupant behaviour , however , has become increasingly significant . Occupant behaviour rather than household ’ s physical characteristics deserves more attention in energy efficiency . There might be great difference in energy consumption or carbon emission of the same household depending on user ’ s sustainable view and lifestyle . The promotion of occupant ’ s knowledge , motivation and value was the key factor in reduction of building carbon emission ( Chen et al . 2010 ).
In Germany the main factors influencing choice when purchasing a specific heating system have been identified and economic aspects are very important ( Decker et al . 2015 ). In China , there was a comprehensive survey of 1450 households in 2012 to identify the characteristics and potential driving forces of residential energy consumption . The results show that commercial energy is used mainly for space heating in urban areas and space heating and cooling patterns show a vast disparity in different climate zones . 40 percent of surveyed households use central heating systems . Individual heating meters are not widely used , so 92 percent of centrally heated households pay in accordance with the heated area or the dwelling ’ s room area ( Zheng et al . 2014 ). This means that household owner will not benefit economically from energy efficiency behaviour . This policy will not play an active role in encouraging the change of household lifestyle in energy saving .
About 75 percent of the energy consumed in the residential sector in the Netherlands is used for home heating . Investigation of household behaviour and its impact on the use of natural gas for home heating was carried out . Household behaviour and home characteristics prove to be the major determinants of energy use for house heating . The greatest savings can be attained by reducing the amount of energy ( mainly natural gas in the Netherlands ) used for home heating . Large differences are observed between households in the use of natural gas . These differences are related to the behaviour activities and lifestyle of the household members . Most energy use however is related to the usage of appliances and energy savings require changes of behaviours and daily routines e . g . lowering the thermostat at night , closing curtains , using fewer rooms and using ventilation systems sparingly ( Verhallen et al . 1981 ). In the examined the relationship between homeowners ’ attitudes and their winter gas consumption , the results confirmed that thermal comfort was the most important determinant of household energy use . Residents ’ need or desire for comfort can have a substantial impact on consumption because space heating comprise the biggest components of residential energy consumption . It must be remembered that energy consumption is not behaviour ; it is a consequence of behaviour primarily thermostat setting in the case of residential energy use ( Becker et al . 1981 ).
Winter heating energy consumption is a large part of the household ’ s total energy consumption in cold zones of China . Compared to the centralized heating system which has been widely used in the north of China , the application of a decentralized household gas heating boilers with more customized functions can be operated according to the demands of occupant and lead to better energy efficiency . Previous research has shown that , household heating gas consumption is 7 ~ 9m3 / ( 100m2 · d ) in Dalian , Shenyang and Harbin , cities of severe cold climate zone ( Qian et al . 2005 ), and 7.21Nm3 / ( m2 · a ) in Beijing , city of cold zone ( Hua 2003 ). This provide the general description of household gas consumption , however there are no detail study currently on household
90 ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce , Italy