Improving the efficiency of household electricity consumption and its rebound effect in Iran in terms of asymmetry in electricity prices

Saving electricity consumption, especially in the household sector, is essential given the growth of electricity consumption in this sector. One of the most important ways to save electricity is to improve the efficiency of electricity consuming devices, but there is a close relationship between improving the efficiency of electricity consumption and the rebound effect, which if ignored, will have adverse effects. In the present paper, using the ordinary least squares method, the size of the direct rebound effect related to electricity consumption in the household sector of Iran has been estimated in terms of asymmetry in electricity prices. For this purpose, and considering the separation of electricity prices based on the Gately study, annual data for the period 1347-1398 and estimating the elasticity of electricity demand have been used. The results show that, firstly, improving the efficiency of household electricity consumption has a rebound effect. Secondly, the rebound effect in the household sector is 43%. With a 10% upgrade of household appliances technology, 4.3% of the expected reserve due to the improvement of electricity consumption efficiency does not occur and appears in the form of a rebound effect, and only 5.7% of the expected reserve in electricity consumption is realized.