Imagine people bought energy services, like a warm home, instead of units of fuel. They would find different services appealing and use them in different ways. We found out who would buy different types of service and how they would use them.
We talked to thousands of people around the UK. We asked how they chose their supplier, used energy and replaced their boilers. Then we ran an experiment to find out how much they valued different types of energy service. We had to survey their homes to offer them energy services with realistic prices.
We created a set of ‘segmentations’ to help energy service designers. People wanted to pay for different levels of service depending on what they valued most. Some wanted more hours of warmth and higher temperatures. Most wanted to pay more for the flexibility to use heat when they liked. There was also a group who were far more open to alternative, low carbon, heating systems.
