Smart meter displays: what makes a good one?
Smart meter displays: what makes a good one?
New research shows clear requirements for real-time energy displays
6 October 2009
The planned introduction of smart meters into UK homes will need strong Government intervention to ensure householders receive the sort of home energy displays they say they need to help them understand and control their energy use.
That’s the main conclusion of a recent study carried out by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) on behalf of the Energy Saving Trust. Its findings have informed the Government’s consultation on the roll-out of domestic smart meters.
Currently there are various home electricity displays on the market which show householders how much electricity they are using. However, there has been little published research about what consumers actually want from these displays and what they would find easiest to understand.
CSE’s study therefore tested householder perspectives of the sorts of displays they would find useful in their home showing them how much gas and electricity they were using at any given time.
With input from Dr Clive Frankish, a cognitive psychologist at University of Bristol, and Dr Sarah Darby, an energy consumer feedback specialist at University of Oxford, CSE undertook a series of focus groups with different types of consumers and gave participants an opportunity to use a real time display in their homes.
CSE’s Senior Researcher Will Anderson, who led the research and compiled the report for the Energy Saving Trust, said: “The research was striking because of the convergence of opinion among our participants. We were able to come up with a clear core specification for home energy displays which addressed all their interests. Yet only one of the models currently on the market comes close to meeting this specification.
“On this basis, and given the scale of the smart meter investment programme and the importance of getting these displays to provide meaningful information for users, it is pretty clear that the Government shouldn’t be leaving the provision of smart meters to ‘the market’. A national core specification is a must.
“Also, we should not underestimate the value of every household having a comparable device as this will enable learning within neighbourhoods and communities.”
This idea of using the roll out of smart meters to create a common, shared experience for all households was reinforced in CSE’s own response to the Government’s consultation (see below).
As Will said: “Rather than leaving it to the market to give householders ‘choice’ in smart meters, we think far greater benefits can be achieved by everyone having something in common when it comes to smart meters. Tackling climate change needs some common experiences to bring us together with a sense of collective purpose. The roll out of smart meters provides an opportunity to do just that.”
Read the project profile here.
To download CSE’s report, ‘Exploring consumer preferences for home energy display functionality’, click here.
To download CSE response to Smart Meters Consultation (August 2009) c,lick here
For more information contact Will Anderson