Alina Oprea • 15 November, 2023 at 3:40 PM
7 out of 10 Romanians want to reduce energy waste to optimize their utility costs. Reveal Marketing Research has been carried out for România Eficientă (Efficient Romania) a nationally representative study among urban residents, to find out if and what solutions Romanians have identified and implemented to make energy consumption more efficient compared to the previous year, in the context in which we are witnessing a significant increase in utility prices. In Romanians' perception, energy efficiency is mostly associated with utility costs (21%), personal comfort (18%), and individual health (17%).
The main factor that causes 7 out of 10 Romanians to be more careful about the energy they consume is its price, the study reveals.
70% of Romanians believe that the main advantage of an energy-efficient home is saving by reducing energy costs.
Moreover, compared to 2022, there is an increase in the importance of price as a motivating factor to save energy, from 66% to 69%, to a significantly higher extent in the case of mature people over 45 (75%).
And in 2023, the positive trend regarding energy-saving behaviors at home continues. The most common actions Romanians take to reduce their energy bills are turning off the light every time there are no occupants in the room (46%) and turning off the TV when it is not in use (37%).
Compared to the previous year, the percentages of those who declare that they always adopt energy-efficient behaviors increase slightly, the increases being recorded for all types of behaviors measured. For example, the percentage of those who always turn off the light when they leave the room increases from 44% to 46%, and those who always turn off the TV when not watching it are now 37% compared to 33% in 2022.
More and more Romanians want thermally insulated homes and thermostats for heat control. Also, living in a thermally insulated house or apartment is a very important aspect for 76% of Romanians, and in the last year, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of installing thermostats to control the temperature in homes, from 50 to 56%.
8 out of 10 Romanians want energy-efficient hospitals and schools. The importance of energy efficiency is appreciated for all types of buildings, with 76% of Romanians stating that it is important to increase the energy efficiency of residential buildings, but hospitals (80%) and schools (78%) are at the top of the list of buildings that need improvement.
The Reveal Marketing Research study was conducted online at the behest of the Efficient Romania program between 20-25.09.2023 on a representative sample for the universe of people aged 18+, from the urban environment, internet users. The sample size was 1,000 respondents and the maximum sampling error is +/-3.1% at a 95% confidence level.
Efficient Romania is a private project of national scope, carried out by the Energy Policy Group (EPG) in partnership with the financing of OMV Petrom. The project started in the summer of 2019 and consists of running a national program to promote energy efficiency. Efficient Romania aims to support the achievement of Romania's targets for 2030 in terms of reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency, both through information and education campaigns, as well as through the realization of concrete major renovation projects in public schools in different regions of the country.