The household sector is one of the most energy-intensive sectors in Europe, and thus a focal point for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy consumption. Energy efficiency is considered a key measure to reduce household energy consumption, but several factors could lead to an underinvestment in energy efficiency. This is the so-called energy efficiency gap or paradox. The factors in question are grouped under market failures (including informational failures), behavioural failures and other factors. Various policies can be used to address these failures and promote the adoption of energy-efficient technologies, including energy standards and codes, economic incentives and information instruments. This paper reviews the empirical evidence to date on energy efficiency policies and discusses their effectiveness. On the one hand, command and control instruments seem to be effective policies, but they have to overcome several barriers. In the case of price instruments, subsidies and taxes do not seem to be effective while rebates present mixed results as they sometimes are effective and in other cases, they could present significant shortcomings. Finally, the effectiveness of informational policies is not always ensured as they depend on the country, sector and product category. Information feedback tools also seem to be effective as they work as a constant reminder of energy-efficient behaviour. Some limitations of energy efficiency policies are also identified, such as the difficulties of implementing codes and standards given that a minimum level need to be achieved, differences in the effectiveness of rebate programmes and non-conclusive results in regard to the effectiveness of monetary energy efficiency labels.

家庭部门是欧洲最耗能的部门之一，因此是减少与能源消耗相关的温室气体排放的重点。能源效率被认为是减少家庭能源消耗的关键措施，但是有几个因素可能导致对能源效率的投资不足。这就是所谓的能效差距或悖论。有问题的因素分为市场失灵（包括信息失灵），行为失灵和其他因素。可以采用各种政策来解决这些故障并促进采用节能技术，包括能源标准和法规，经济激励措施和信息工具。本文回顾了迄今为止有关能效政策的经验证据，并讨论了其有效性。一方面，指挥和控制工具似乎是有效的政策，但它们必须克服几个障碍。就价格工具而言，补贴和税收似乎并不有效，而回扣有时却是有效的，而折扣则有不同的结果，而在其他情况下，补贴和税则可能存在重大缺陷。最后，信息政策的有效性并不总是得到保证，因为它们取决于国家，行业和产品类别。信息反馈工具似乎不断有效地提醒人们节能行为，因此似乎也很有效。还指出了能效政策的一些局限性，例如由于需要达到最低水平而难以实施法规和标准，