Residential-energy-demand modeling and the NIECS data base: an evaluation

The purpose of this report is to evaluate the 1978-1979 National Interim Energy Consumption Survey (NIECS) data base in terms of its usefulness for estimating residential energy demand models based on household appliance choice and utilization decisions. The NIECS contains detailed energy usage information at the household level for 4081 households during the April 1978 to March 1979 period. Among the data included are information on the structural and thermal characteristics of the housing unit, demographic characteristics of the household, fuel usage, appliance characteristics, and actual energy consumption. The survey covers the four primary residential fuels-electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas - and includes detailed information on recent household conservation and retrofit activities. Section II contains brief descriptions of the major components of the NIECS data set. Discussions are included on the sample frame and the imputation procedures used in NIECS. There are also two extensive tables, giving detailed statistical and other information on most of the non-vehicle NIECS variables. Section III contains an assessment of the NIECS data, focusing on four areas: measurement error, sample design, imputation problems, and additional data needed to estimate appliance choice/use models. Section IV summarizes and concludes the report