How households in Pakistan take on energy efficient lighting technology

- Paper models the CFL adoption decision and adoption effects on energy consumption.
- Higher price and limited knowledge on bulb lifespan lowers CFL adoption rates.
- CFL adoption increases technical efficiency of household lighting.
- Rebound effects from CFL adoption are 23% to 35% of potential energy savings.
- Increased brightness and extended hours of use influence the rebound effect.

A household survey in Pakistan is used to examine drivers of more efficient compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) adoption and the impact of CFL adoption on the demand for lighting services. Higher price of a CFL to an incandescent bulb (IB) and limited knowledge about the life span of CFLs versus IBs are found to lower adoption rates by as much as 20%. While CFL adoption increases the technical efficiency of household lighting, the lower cost for lighting services results in estimated rebound effects that decrease potential energy savings by 23% to 35% due to increased brightness and extended hours of use. These findings have important implications for household welfare and cost-benefit tradeoffs for CFL projects.