%0 Journal Article %A Oliveira, Luis C.R. %A Mitchell, Val %A Badni, Kevin %D 2013 %T Cooking behaviours: a user observation study to understand energy use and motivate savings %U https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Cooking_behaviours_a_user_observation_study_to_understand_energy_use_and_motivate_savings/9349475 %2 https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/16958558 %K Energy saving %K Cookers %K User observation %K Design Practice and Management not elsewhere classified %K Mechanical Engineering %X Electric cookers are one of the highest energy consuming domestic appliances, and there are several aspects that can influence the amount of energy used when preparing a meal. Appliance characteristics are shown to influence consumption, but human factors play an important role in the overall electricity usage. A user observation study was conducted among uni-versity students to understand how they use electric cookers. They were asked to perform a specific cooking task, and the elec-tricity usage was measured. Participants’ behaviours were analysed and compared with a set of energy saving techniques. Ap-pliance characteristics that influenced how students use energy were also investigated. The results show that users performed the task in several different ways, presenting diverse energy consumption, the average being 3 times above the necessary to complete the task. This information is now informing the design of interventions to motivate people to change their behaviours whilst cooking. %I Loughborough University