Economy controls energy retrofits of Danish single-family houses. Comfort, indoor environment and architecture increase the budget

• 883 homeowners participated in the questionnaire survey about energy retrofit.
• Energy savings cannot motivate homeowners to conduct private energy retrofits.
• Motivation factors are improvements in comfort, indoor environment and architecture.
• Knowledge of non-energy benefits and consumption, increases the retrofit number.

A great energy saving potential is found in the 440,000 Danish single-family houses erected between 1960 and 1979, but the potential is not exploited. To utilize this potential, homeowners must be motivated to conduct energy saving retrofits. This paper presents results from a 2012 survey, in which 883 Danish single-family house owners completed a questionnaire about energy retrofit. The objective of this paper is, based on the survey results, to determine how Danish homeowners can be motivated to conduct energy retrofits.The conclusion is that the financial aspect of an energy retrofit will always carry great weight for the homeowners and is often the reason why energy retrofits are not carried out. Improvements in comfort, indoor environment and architecture have nevertheless proven to be motivating for the homeowners and increasing the budget for retrofits. However, not much knowledge about the potential improvements within these parameters is found among the homeowners, and therefore, there is a vital need for more information about this. A combination of this knowledge of the non-economic improvements, a sensible investment size, and information and education about the current situation and consumption is concluded as the optimal motivation strategy for the homeowners to conduct energy retrofits.