Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

Professor Adam Hawkes

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering

Professor of Energy Systems
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9300a.hawkes

 
 
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Location

 

RODH.503Roderic Hill BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Miu:2019:10.1016/j.erss.2019.101228,
author = {Miu, LM and Mazur, CM and Van, Dam KH and Lambert, RSC and Hawkes, A and Shah, N},
doi = {10.1016/j.erss.2019.101228},
journal = {Energy Research and Social Science},
title = {Going smart, staying confused: perceptions and use of smart thermostats in British homes},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101228},
volume = {57},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Given the significant contribution of housing to energy consumption, research into how residents use energy-saving technologies has been gathering pace. In this study, we investigate the perception and use of domestic smart heating controls by a small group of residents in London, UK. These residents are supplied by a district heat network (DHN) through underfloor heating systems, and took part in a trial where their controls were upgraded from traditional thermostats to smart thermostats. Pre- and post-trial interviews were used to assess changes in how residents interacted with and perceived their controls and heating systems. After the upgrade, more residents were satisfied with the usability of their controls and programmed heating schedules which matched their actual occupancy patterns, but they also made ad-hoc temperature and schedule adjustments more frequently. These changes provide insight into how a unique sample of residents, “twice removed” from the most intuitive methods of heating control, adjusted their behaviour and perceptions following a technology upgrade. Although the small sample size and lack of long-term monitoring limits the generalizability of our results, the findings open avenues for further research into whether smart heating controls change user behaviour in a way that improves the predictability of heating demand, a crucial aspect of improving DHN operation and reducing related emissions.
AU  - Miu,LM
AU  - Mazur,CM
AU  - Van,Dam KH
AU  - Lambert,RSC
AU  - Hawkes,A
AU  - Shah,N
DO  - 10.1016/j.erss.2019.101228
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 2214-6296
TI  - Going smart, staying confused: perceptions and use of smart thermostats in British homes
T2  - Energy Research and Social Science
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101228
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/71253
VL  - 57
ER  -
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