CH-24-C045 - Rural Midwest Homeowners Perceptions of Smart Thermostats

Smart thermostats can reduce unnecessary heating and cooling in residential buildings by enabling occupants to remotely adjust temperature setpoints and, on certain models, observing occupancy patterns. Furthermore, electric utilities can, with occupants’ consent, adjust thermostat setpoints to reduce electricity demand from residential HVAC systems during peak demand events. These reductions in heating and cooling are important in the U.S. since over half of residential energy demand is from heating and cooling systems, and this demand is projected to grow 0.2% annually over the next three decades. This research focuses on residential buildings in the rural United States, since the energy burden of rural U.S. residents is, on average, 4.4%. This percentage is one-third higher than the national average. Using open-ended questions, this research assessed rural Midwest homeowners' beliefs about smart thermostat features and their beliefs about whether smart thermostats impact both financial factors (energy expenses) and non-financial factors (energy efficiency and CO2 emissions). Such factors are often important to determining whether homeowners invest in smart technology, including smart thermostats. Participants commonly named certain features of smart thermostats, such as programmability, automation, adjusting setpoint, and remote control, as responses to ways smart thermostats support energy efficiency, reduce energy use, and reduce CO2 emissions. Finally, respondents discussed barriers to invest in smart thermostat, these being difficulty using the technology, not having internet access, incompatible occupancy schedules, and lack of understanding of smart thermostats. The results of this research can help understand how people perceive smart thermostats as well as defining investment barriers that require further effort to overcome.