Characterisation of potential adopters of domestic biomass heating

ABSTRACT

Domestic heating systems are an important energy consumption market from a country’s economic and environmental perspective. The domestic adoption of biomass heating systems is increasing in Europe and is considered environmentally friendly in terms of climate change in general, as well as secure in terms of fuel supply and price fluctuation. The results of this study indicate that potential Spanish adopters have a favorable attitude toward this type of heating. A potential adopter can be characterized as a female owner with an income level of €1800 or more, and with a house in a rural area. The most important issue for them is, in general, the annual cost of their heating.

KEYWORDS:

• Heating systems adoption
• potential adopters
• biomass
• energy efficiency

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [Research Project CTM2009-07199] and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [Research Project ECO2012-39576].

Declaration of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Availability of data

The data that supports the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

¹. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the sub-sample variances for the model, which, based on the gender variable, explains the “ease of recharging” (F = 0.578; p = 0.447), “Indoor air quality” (F = 0.001; p = 0.977), “Cleanliness” (F = 2.137; p = 0.144), “Ease of use” (F = 1.230; p = 0.268), “Speed of heating the house” (F = 3.768; p = 0.053) and finally, “Automation of the system” (F = 1.751; p = 0.186). However, generalizations from the results must considered with caution in the case of the “Annual consumption cost” (F = 13.780; p = 0), “Cost of installing the system” (F = 12.174; p = 0.001) and “Operational safety” (F = 4.370); p = 0.037) because the estimates of the coefficients, while linear and unbiased, do not cover the property of minimum variance (efficiency).

². Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the subsample variances for the model that, based on the Income Level variable, explains the guarantee of the biomass supply (F = 0.184; p = 0.668) and the Cost of installation (F = 2.683; p = 0.102). However, the result corresponding to the Annual consumption cost of heating (F = 4.679; p = 0.031) must be interpreted with caution, as the estimates of the coefficients, while linear and unbiased, do not cover the property of minimum variance (efficiency).

^3. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the sub-sample variances for the model that, based on the Household size variable, explains the “Automation of the system” (F = 0.797; p = 0.451).

⁴. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the sub-sample variances for the model that, from the Place of residence variable, explains the “Speed of heating the house” (F = 0.170; p = 0.68). However, in the case of the “Annual consumption cost” (F = 14.68; p = 0), the results should be approached with caution as the coefficient estimates are linear and unbiased, but do not present the property of minimum variance (efficiency).

⁵. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the sub-sample variances for the model that from the gender variable attempts to explain the fact that the purchase of biomass heating system is an “Idea that I like” (F = 0.218 p = 0.64), a “smart idea” (F = 0.528; p = 0.468) and a “good idea” (F = 1.628; p = 0.203).

⁶. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the variances for the model that from the household size variable attempts to explain the fact that the purchase of the heating system is an “Idea that I like” (F = 2.224; p = 0.109), a “Smart Idea” (F = 1.847; p = 0.159) and a “Good Idea” (F = 1.741; p = 0.176).

⁷. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the sub-sample variances for the model that from the place of residence variable attempts to explain the fact that the purchase of the heating system is an “Idea that I like” (F = 0.06; p = 0.805) and a “Smart idea” (F = 0.014; p = 0.905).

⁸. Levene’s test confirms the assumption of homoscedasticity of the sub-sample variances for the model that, from the gender variable, attempts to explain the “Predisposition to adopt a biomass heating system” (F = 0.708; p = 0.4).

⁹. As the assumption of homoscedasticity between the samples is not met.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [CTM2009-07199]; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [ECO2012-39576].