The what, why, and how of changing cooling energy consumption in India’s urban households

Abstract

India’s urbanising middle class is at the brink of an unprecedented increase in residential cooling demand, yet little is understood about the dynamics of changing cooling consumption. Based on empirical analyses, this research examines a set of fundamental questions around India’s cooling transition. How is cooling conceptualised and what cooling strategies do households use? How, when and why are people purchasing and using their air conditioners (ACs)? Who is buying energy-efficient ACs? Is cooling consumption gendered? Using descriptive statistics, machine learning, and regression analysis to characterize AC usage, we examine a sample dataset (n = 2092) that is representative of areas in Delhi with above average AC penetration. We unpack perceptions of thermal comfort, and characterize the conditions under which households have greater AC use and make energy efficient purchase choices. AC usage is found to be a function of household habits (such as exposure to ACs in the workplace or schools), structural factors, and socio demographic features. While most ACs are in the middle energy-efficiency range, preferences, behaviours and awareness around energy efficiency are found to affect AC use as well as influence the purchase of more efficient ACs. Notable gender differences are observed, and women are found to be less involved in decision-making around cooling appliances and less aware of the technical know-how or energy-efficient schemes. Policy recommendations for a low-carbon cooling trajectory are discussed.

Scenarios for future Indian HFC demand compared to the Kigali Amendment

“…India currently has the largest unmet cooling demand in the world, but its low adoption rate of air conditioning (8% of the current Indian households have room ACs) and refrigeration equipment is not expected to persist (Davis and Gertler 2015, Khosla et al 2021). Projections suggest air conditioner sales will grow six-fold by 2038, with similar growth in refrigeration (MOEFCC 2019, Khosla et al 2021.…”

“…India currently has the largest unmet cooling demand in the world, but its low adoption rate of air conditioning (8% of the current Indian households have room ACs) and refrigeration equipment is not expected to persist (Davis and Gertler 2015, Khosla et al 2021). Projections suggest air conditioner sales will grow six-fold by 2038, with similar growth in refrigeration (MOEFCC 2019, Khosla et al 2021. This work examines how growing demand for mechanical cooling equipment based on vapor compression will affect uptake and use of chemicals known as refrigerants, which are necessary to produce the 'cooling effect.'…”

Understanding air-conditioned lives: qualitative insights from Doha

“…Though investigating the various cultural dimensions involved in the global spread of airconditioning does not necessarily demand qualitative methods (for a recent survey example in India, see Khosla et al 2021), these studies demonstrate their potential for revealing them. Whether indoor climate control is experienced as uninspiring thermal 'monotony' (Healy 2008) is more a matter of unthinking 'addiction' (Hitchings 2011b), or rather nourishes a concerning environmental indifference (Sahakian et al 2020) that denies people the pleasure of honing their mundane heat management skills (Vannini & Taggart 2014): these are all questions that qualitative methods are well suited to exploring because of their openness to the characterisation that best captures the social experience of particular contexts.…”

Domestic environments, urban air and climate change

“…In a recent study on Delhi, Khosla et al similarly point out that India’s urbanising middle class is at the brink of an unprecedented increase in residential cooling demand. As a consequence, energy use for space cooling is growing faster than for any other end use in buildings (Khosla et al 2021). This is what Stephen Graham has referred to as air-con urbanism which first began in the USA and Europe and is now fast finding purchase in rest of the world (Graham 2015).…”