The Role of Tailored Information on Household Heat Pump Demand

Last registered on March 26, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Role of Tailored Information on Household Heat Pump Demand
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014664
Initial registration date
March 25, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 26, 2025, 9:56 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Siqi Zheng
Affiliation
MIT
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Linde Kattenberg
PI Affiliation
Maastricht University
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PI Name
Christopher Knittel
PI Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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PI Name
Juan Palacios
PI Affiliation
Maastricht University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-08-21
End date
2027-12-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Q4
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Heat pumps are an important technology in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that come from energy usage in buildings. In order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the number of heat pumps globally must reach 600 million installations by 2030 (IEA, 2022). Achieving this goal requires a significant acceleration in deployment, with monthly installations that need to grow from 1.5 million in 2020 to 5 million by 2030. However, several market barriers continue to hinder widespread adoption. By means of an online survey experiment with US homeowners, we consider how tailored information influences households’ decisions on heat pump adoption. The study examines the relative importance of different factors in households’ decision-making processes by testing the effects of various types of information, including costs, benefits, climate impact, and comfort. Additionally, we explore how household characteristics, preferences, and subsidy availability shape responses to the provided heat pump information.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kattenberg, Linde et al. 2025. "The Role of Tailored Information on Household Heat Pump Demand." AEA RCT Registry. March 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14664-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We provide survey participants with different types of information about the impact of installing a heat pump system in their home.
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-26
Intervention End Date
2025-04-26

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Stated probability of adopting a heat pump
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Subsidy amount to cover installation costs demanded to install a heat pump with certainty
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Participants are recruited via an online survey platform. We pre-select such that only homeowners are invited to participate in the study. All participants are asked whether they currently have a heat pump installed or not. All households that report not having a heat pump installation yet will be randomly assigned to either the control group, or one of the three treatment groups (Cost-benefit, Climate, Comfort). The intervention provides different levels of detail about the impact of installing a heat pump system for a specific household.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomized by Qualtrics software
Randomization Unit
Individual respondent
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2000 respondents
Sample size: planned number of observations
2000 respondents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 by group (Cost-benefit, Climate, Comfort, Control)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
MIT Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-24
IRB Approval Number
E-6652
Analysis Plan