Field Evaluation of Programmable Thermostats

Technical Report · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1059166· OSTI ID:1059166

Sachs, O. ^[1]; Tiefenbeck, V. ^[1]; Duvier, C. ^[1]; Qin, A. ^[1]; Cheney, K. ^[1]; Akers, C. ^[1]; Roth, K. ^[1]

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1. Fraunhofer CSE, Cambridge, MA (United States)

Prior research suggests that poor programmable thermostats usability may prevent their effective use to save energy. We hypothesized that home occupants with a high-usability thermostats would be more likely to use them to save energy than people with a basic thermostat. We randomly installed a high-usability thermostat in half the 77 apartments of an affordable housing complex, installing a basic thermostat in the other half. During the heating season, we collected space temperature and furnace on-off data to evaluate occupant interaction with the thermostats, foremost nighttime setbacks. We found that thermostat usability did not influence energy-saving behaviors, finding no significant difference in temperature maintained among apartments with high- and low-usability thermostats.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1059166
• Report Number(s): DOE/GO--102012-3804; KNDJ-0-40345-00
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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