Abstract Pakistan is a rapidly developing economy and one of the fastest-urbanizing South Asian nations, being the sixth most populous country in the world. There is a significant gap in the electricity demand versus generation, amounting to a deficit of 5GW. Accordingly, 25% of the population still lack access to electricity, and almost 50% to clean cooking facilities. Because of lower rate of access to electricity and long-standing power blackouts, households, with 51% of the total, have become a greater consumer of electricity than industry, in a country with one of the highest levels of access to electricity in the world. The main aim of this study is to examine energy-related perceptions and awareness of Pakistani household consumers, establishing the level of alignment of this awareness with their actual preferences and behaviour, to derive insights for environment and energy policy planning and management. It constitutes one of the most comprehensive surveys applied in Pakistan by providing an overview of domestic energy consumption behaviour of the country together with a broad and representative information on the energy consumption habits, and characteristics of the households in Pakistan. The results point to significant discrepancies between Pakistani households’ awareness regarding energy-related issues such as energy efficiency, and energy conservation, and their perceptions on the need to take action on these issues.