Designing for the home: A comparative study of support aids for central heating systems

Abstract

The study examined the influence of different types of enhanced system support on user performance during the management of a central heating system. A computer-based simulation of a central heating system, called CHESS V2.0, was used to model different interface options, providing different support facilities to the user (e.g., historical, predictive, and instructional displays). Seventy-five participants took part in the study and completed a series of operational scenarios under different support conditions. The simulation environment allowed the collection of performance measures (e.g., energy consumption), information sampling, and system control behaviour. Subjective user evaluations of various aspects of the system were also measured. The results showed performance gains for predictive displays whereas no such benefits were observed for the other display types. The data also revealed that status and predictive displays were valued most highly by users. The implications of the findings for designers of central heating systems are discussed.

Case studies of mental models in home heat control: Searching for feedback, valve, timer and switch theories

“…Combe et al, 2011, Peffer et al, 2013, as well as investigation into the benefit of support aids for central heating (e.g. Sauer et al, 2009). The authors believe that the central heating system needs to be considered as just that, a system.…”

“…The authors believe that the central heating system needs to be considered as just that, a system. Sauer et al, 2009, considers home heating to be the most complex system in the domestic domain. Consideration of individual control devices, in terms of usability is clearly important, but users need to be aware of which control devices to use in which situations, to fulfil their comfort and consumption goals.…”

“…The notion has been associated with many domains over the last 20 years, including domestic (Kempton, 1986), transport (Weyman et al, 2005) and military (Rafferty et al, 2010). Mental Models have formed the basis of strategies to improve interface design (Carroll and Olson 1987;Williges, 1987;Norman 2002;Baxter , 2007;Jenkins et al 2010), to promote usability (Norman, 2002;Mack and Sharples 2009;Jenkins et al 2011;Branaghan et al, 2011;Larsson, 2012), and to encourage sustainable behaviour (Kempton, 1986;Sauer et al, 2009;Lockton et al, 2010) amongst many others. In 1986, Kempton described two distinct 'forms' of mental models of thermostat function that were prevalent in the population of that time.…”

Thermostat Interface and Usability: A Survey

“…Payback and increased convenience are not worth the cost (Nevius & Pigg, 2000) Presence of alternative heating/cooling devices not controlled by PTs, (for example wood stoves) (Nevius & Pigg, 2000;Rathouse & Young, 2004b) Age dependent problems with programming (Freudenthal & Mook, 2003;Sauer, et al, 2009) Unpredictable time at home makes programs useless (Nevius & Pigg, 2000;Rathouse & Young, 2004b) Incorrect mental models about good indoor temperature (Karjalainen, 2008;Vastamaki, et al, 2005) Thermal feedback is delayed (thermal inertia) and desired thermal comfort is delayed (Rathouse & Young, 2004b;Vastamaki, et al, 2005) Conflicts among people in the household with different thermal needs and operating practice (McCalley & Midden, 2004;D. Parker, Barkaszi, Sherwin, & Richardson, 1996;Rathouse & Young, 2004b) Aesthetics of the device (Gupta, et al, 2009) People want to retain control (Kempton, Reynolds, Fels, & Hull, 1992) Special HVAC systems (Evaporative Cooling, Heat Pumps) work differently than normal systems and require a different operating mode, user practice, and (Bouchelle, et al, 2000;Diamond, et al, 1996) thermostat setting High priority for heating in people's expenditures (Rathouse & Young, 2004b) Renter/Owner problem In some studies, functions like the "boost button" (an additional hour of heating (Rathouse & Young, 2004b), a timer (Kempton, Feuermann, & McGarity, 1992), and indication of the time needed to reach the desired temperature (Karjalainen, 2008) were considered useful to customers.…”

“…The interactive feature conferred high usability on the device, and even the oldest subjects could accomplish complicated programming tasks. Sauer et al (2009) investigated various types of enhanced user support on user performance. Different thermostat interface options providing different support information (status, history, predictive, instructional and warning displays) to the user were simulated as well as the system performances in response to the user actions.…”