Electricity consumption has been rising significantly in the western world the last decades and this affect the environment negatively. Efficient use and more energy conservative usage patterns could be ways to approach this problem. However, electricity has for a long time actively been hidden away and it is rarely thought of unless it ceases to exist. From the perspective of critical design, we have been working to find methods to visualise electricity and electricity consumption in everyday life to promote environmentally positive behavioural change. In this paper, we are looking at how aspects of lifestyles can be used in design as central driving forces that could lead to changed behaviour. Attempts to promote behavioural changes related to energy consumption might be successfully carried out when people are offered desirable alternatives that are engaging and that do not impose a perceived extra burden in their everyday life. This argument is exemplified through two design concepts, the AWARE Laundry Lamp and the Energy Plant, which are examples on how to increase people’s energy awareness and offer them means for reducing their energy consumption in the home. Both prototypes are inspired by current trends in lifestyle as well as actual observed user behaviour.

New interfaces to the energy system can facilitate changes of habits and provide means to control the household’s use of energy. In this paper, we look at energy use and such interfaces in the home from a socio-technical perspective. We describe how interviews and user observations can be used in combination with the theory of domestication to inform and inspire the design of interfaces to the energy system. As a result of our approach, we present the Energy AWARE Clock, an example of a new type of electricity meter that challenges the norm of how the electricity system is typically represented in the home. The Energy AWARE Clock makes use of a clock metaphor to vi sualise electricity-use in relation to time in everyday life. Energy-awareness products always challenge domestic social patterns and it is important to consider these aspects in the design process to find successful solutions for the future.

Smart electricity meters and home displays are being installed in people’s homes with the assumption that households will make the necessary efforts to reduce their electricity consumption. However, present solutions do not sufficiently account for the social implications of design. There is a potential for greater savings if we can better understand how such designs affect behaviour. In this paper, we describe our design of an energy awareness artefact – the Energy AWARE Clock – and discuss it in relation to behavioural processes in the home. A user study is carried out to study the deployment of the prototype in real domestic contexts for three months. Results indicate that the Energy AWARE Clock played a significant role in drawing households’ attention to their electricity use. It became a natural part of the house hold and conceptions of electricity became naturalized into informants’ everyday language.