Researchers are aiming to develop a device which allows users to control their heating based on the price they want to pay rather than setting it by temperature alone, which existing smart thermostats do.
To understand how users interact with smart energy systems, a team of researchers from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at Southampton and the University of Zurich, produced three different smart thermostats that automated heating based on users’ heating preferences and real-time price variations.
The results showed that participants used all three thermostat systems to effectively manage their home heating and create temperature preferences based on real-time prices.
Southampton PhD student Alper Alan, co-author of the study, says:
“People were more aware of their energy consumption and were happy with the autonomous system controlling their heating on their behalf given real-time prices. We saw that people liked being able to control their home from anywhere they are.”
“We also observed in all three treatments, most people reduced their temperature at high price levels. We found that people are ready to incur a reduction of four degrees celsius to save money. They said that even though the house was a bit colder than normal, they were okay with it since it was not that cold and they were saving money.”
You can read the full press release on the University website.