Why some households stop refilling their LPG cylinders

What is shaping energy

The energy transition brings rooftop solar, clean cooking, EV charging and efficient appliances to homes and businesses. Adoption depends on cost, trust, financing and after-sales support.

• Rooftop solar adoption depends on financing and installer trust
• Clean cooking programmes need sustained use, not just connections
• Businesses are setting their own transition targets

A clean energy development programme, working in Madhya Pradesh & Jharkhand. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A clean energy development programme

Sector

Energy

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Government research, Quantitative research, Offline data collection (CAPI)

Many rural households had received LPG connections, but refill rates were low and families continued to cook with firewood. The programme needed to understand why, to design support that sustained clean cooking.

• Answer the core question: why some households stop refilling their LPG cylinders.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of households.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 10 weeks.

The work focused on 3,000 households.

• households3,000

Audiences we typically reach in energy

HouseholdsSmall businessesInstallers and channel partnersProgramme beneficiariesEnergy managers

Coverage: Madhya Pradesh & Jharkhand. Market: India.

• India

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Household survey
3. 3Women’s group discussions
4. 4Insight

Women interviewers surveyed the main cooks in each household about fuel use, refill costs, distance to distributors, cooking habits and health. Group discussions with women explored decision-making about spending and the taste and convenience trade-offs between fuels.

Government researchQuantitative researchOffline data collection (CAPI)

households

3,000

• Respondents were selected across Madhya Pradesh & Jharkhand using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

discussions

18

• Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person on tablets (CAPI), with time and location recorded for every interview.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
• Time and location checks on field interviews
• Supervisor accompaniment in the field
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• The upfront cost of each refill and distance to distributors were the main barriers, and women often had little say over household spending.

Clean cooking depends on who controls household spending.

• The programme piloted smaller cylinders, home delivery in remote villages and awareness sessions involving men and women together.
• Share the findings with the teams closest to customers so they can act quickly.

What we recommended, and the client put into practice

• Refill rates improved in pilot villages, and the programme extended home delivery to more areas.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Evaluation findings with programme recommendations

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: how do installers win customers?