Field Evaluation of Programmable Thermostats

Sachs, Olga; Tiefenbeck, Verena; Duvier, C.; Qin, Allen; Cheney, K.; Akers, C.; Cse, K. Roth Fraunhofer

doi:10.2172/1059166

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Most studies on smart thermostat functionalities involve small groups of users and focus mostly on UK, Netherlands and the United States [34], and there is general consensus among these studies that the higher usability of smart thermostats is crucial in generating increased engagement with heating controls, also reflected in the desire of potential users for increased ease of use [31]. However, whether or not this engagement leads to efficient heating behaviour is also a matter of user motivation [40]- [42], with [43] actually finding that this motivation decreases for users with more control over their thermal environment. Similar results are also reported by [44], who observed that Dutch households with programmable thermostats tended to take fewer deliberative actions with their controls than those with manual thermostats.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going smart, staying confused: Perceptions and use of smart thermostats in British homes

Miu

Mazur

Dam

et al. 2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going smart, staying confused: Perceptions and use of smart thermostats in British homes

Miu

Mazur

Dam

et al. 2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…As was previously observed in the survey results, up to 66% of the respondents rarely or never shut down their ACs during the summer months, compared to 22% that usually do, while the remaining 12% fall between these two extremes. Moreover, it is unrealistic to expect that enough number of residents will manually turn off their air-conditioning systems [49]. This is confirmed by SEEC, which often send reminders and requests that people in KSA set their thermostat to 24 • C; their call is mostly always ignored [5], as the low energy tariff and the operative temperature may not provide comfort for occupants due to the high ambient temperature and lack of thermal insulation in about 70% of the residential buildings [8].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing High Energy Demand Associated with Air-Conditioning Needs in Saudi Arabia

Alshahrani

Boait

2018

Energies

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Electricity consumption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has grown at an annual rate of about 7% as a result of population and economic growth. The consumption of the residential sector accounts for over 50% of the total energy generation. Moreover, the energy consumption of air-conditioning (AC) systems has become 70% of residential buildings’ total electricity consumption in the summer months, leading to a high peak electricity demand. This study investigates solutions that will tackle the problem of high energy demand associated with KSA’s air-conditioning needs in residential buildings. To reduce the AC energy consumption in the residential sector, we propose the use of smart control in the thermostat settings. Smart control can be utilized by (i) scheduling and advance control of the operation of AC systems and (ii) remotely setting the thermostats appropriately by the utilities. In this study, we model typical residential buildings and, crucially, occupancy behavior based on behavioral data obtained through a survey. The potential impacts in terms of achievable electricity savings of different AC operation modes for residential houses of Riyadh city are presented. The results from our computer simulations show that the solutions intended to reduce energy consumption effectively, particularly in the advance mode of operation, resulted in a 30% to 40% increase in total annual energy savings.

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“…In 2009 more than 33 million of U.S. households, had a programmable thermostat. Survey results conducted by the Department of Energy suggest that 14.5 million of these households do not currently use their thermostat for daytime setbacks and 11.6 million do not use nighttime setbacks [1] [12].…”

Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[11] Previous research has shown that very few people program their thermostat and the most common reason is that they find it difficult to do so because of poorly designed user interfaces. Only 50% of programmable thermostats are actually programmed to adjust temperatures at night or unoccupied times during the day, and thus they do not save much energy [10] [12]. Thus, programmable thermostats are not being used to their full potential.…”

Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 99%

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ThermoCoach: A Study of Occupancy-Based Schedule Recommendations on Energy Cost and User Comfort

Pisharoty¹

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The largest portion of a home's energy consumption is attributed to its Heating, Ventilation and Cooling system(HVAC). Since the early 1900s, programmable thermostats have been studied as a potential tool to achieve energy savings in the home. However, studies have shown that conventional programmable thermostats are not used to their full potential due to several factors-difficult to use interfaces, lack of knowledge of working of HVACs and fading user interaction with the thermostats over time. To overcome this, 'Smart' thermostats detect the occupancy trends of a home and auto-generate schedules; thus eliminating the need for users to program their thermostats. Studies indicate that feedback of energy consumption has the potential to keep homeowners engaged with the energy usage in their homes and motivates them to take action to reduce energy consumption. This thesis presents ThermoCoach-An occupancy-based self-programming thermostat with eco-feedback. ThermoCoach uses occupancy sensors to detect occupancy patterns of a home and generates customized recommendations of thermostat schedules for a home. Schedule recommendations are provided to users through an online interface. ThermoCoach is evaluated against conventional programmable thermostats and the Nest Learning thermostat. For this pilot study, sensing systems were installed in thirty nine homes for a period of three months. ThermoCoach schedules reduced energy cost by 5% while Nest schedules increased costs by 7% when compared to programmable thermostats.i Approval Sheet

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Field Evaluation of Programmable Thermostats

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

Going smart, staying confused: Perceptions and use of smart thermostats in British homes

Going smart, staying confused: Perceptions and use of smart thermostats in British homes

Reducing High Energy Demand Associated with Air-Conditioning Needs in Saudi Arabia

ThermoCoach: A Study of Occupancy-Based Schedule Recommendations on Energy Cost and User Comfort

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