A linear programming approach to household energy conservation: Efficient allocation of budget

Linear programming method was used to optimize the allocation of budget in order to maximize the energy savings of a hypothetical household in Turkey. The energy conservation methods involved in this study were installing photovoltaic solar cells, replacing regular windows with double-glazed ones, replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs and replacing C-Energy Class household appliances with A-Energy Class ones. The costs of these different energy conservation methods were obtained from the manufacturers’ or distributors’ websites. The annual energy savings of these methods were either obtained from available sources or calculated when necessary. The results showed that installing double-glazed windows and purchasing compact fluorescent light bulbs are the proper choices for low budgets. When budget increased, solar panel installation emerged as the feasible choice. The findings indicated that replacing household appliances should be considered only when a budget greater than €20,000 is available. Payback periods were found to be less than one and a half years, even at the highest budget. A budget decision of €800 was found to be the optimum decision for short term investments, whereas a budget decision of €24,000 was found to be the optimum decision for long term investments.

► We used linear programming to optimize budget for maximizing energy savings.
► The building was a hypothetical two-floor detached house in İstanbul, Turkey.
► We did a detailed market research to get the average cost of energy saving methods.
► Methods involved were double-glazing, lighting, solar cells and A-class appliances.
► We calculated the payback periods and profitabilities of various budgets.