Last week, Parks Associates hosted a virtual session “Home Energy Management Solutions: Driving Energy Savings,” Thursday, June 30, as part of the 13th annual Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer. In these sessions, we shared our research and also conversations from the industry on consumer adoption of smart energy devices and interest in energy management use cases.

Our latest consumer study, “Smart Energy at Home: Renewable, Responsive, Resilient,” reveals most consumers want to use less energy and view energy costs as too high—50% of US internet households earning more than $100,000 annually say their electricity costs are too high.

In addition, our research reveals that 29% of US internet households plan to buy a smart thermostat in the next six months. Smart Thermostat Market Assessment finds that adoption of smart thermostats has been flat for several years, at 13% of US internet households, despite owners reporting savings that meet or exceed their expectations. More than 90% of owners report they are satisfied with the energy savings from their smart thermostat. On average, consumers report saving $49 a month on electricity because of smart thermostat usage.  

 Parks Associates team and industry leaders shared their views ahead of the event:

 “Higher energy costs drive higher dissatisfaction, as evidenced by the number agreeing that their bills are too high, even among higher-income households. Bills are particularly higher for larger families and so is their dissatisfaction,” said Chris White, Sr. Analyst, Parks Associates. “There is a large opportunity for utilities to market energy programs such as demand response and for device makers to sell energy-saving and energy-management devices to families who are looking for ways to reduce the bills.”’

 "We all need to be smarter about our energy usage at home, and technology can help us with that. Using systems that work to determine when someone is home or not (and where they are in the home) and then proactively making basic decisions for us (like Orro does with controlling lighting) give us all the opportunity to consume only the energy we need at that specific time," said Colin Billings, CEO & Founder, Orro.

“It’s less about how much data we have or even how sophisticated our analytics have become, but how fast we can unleash the power of insights and intelligence produced across the entire energy value chain,” said Bob Champagne, VP, Customer Experience Innovation, Smart Energy Water. “We are just seeing the ‘tip of the spear’ in terms of the impact energy data and intelligence is having on the global energy transition.”

 “Smart buildings are the foundation to any energy management plan. I'm excited to participate in the Smart Energy Summit and discuss practical steps to making a smart and energy-efficient building,” said Blake Miller, Founder & CEO, Homebase.

"Energy efficiency and sustainability are no longer for just a small subset of people but an unstoppable force, where a new tone is being set for every industry,” said Håkan Ludvigson, CEO and Founder, Eliq AB. “Energy efficiency is today, more than ever, a household topic, which cannot be ignored by utilities. We are seeing significant demand for green and sustainable solutions from multiple industries right now. There is no time to lose.”

“The energy transition is creating incredible opportunities for the electrification of buildings as both property owners and tenants seek to reduce their carbon footprints,” said Advait Katarki, Business Development Manager – Connected Solutions & EV Charging Infrastructure, Eaton. “From consumer adoption of electric appliances to utilities seeking increased flexibility at the edge of the grid, housing and apartment complexes represent a great opportunity to advance electrification efforts. Innovations like Eaton’s smart circuit breakers can help realize the full value of these efforts while creating new possibilities for buildings to become active participants in the grid. We are pleased to join industry thought leaders and stakeholders to present our vision for the future of building electrification and the critical role of smart home energy management technology in enabling this transformation.”

“Energy rates are rising dramatically, and multi-family owners need ways to control costs in common spaces, help their residents save money, and ultimately have a tangible path to carbon reduction,” said Wannie Park, CEO, Zen Ecosystems. “Zen provides apartment owners and managers tools that let them immediately reduce energy costs, shift load to green energy sources, and drive ESG reporting initiatives.”

Parks Associates has studied the home energy market for decades. Thanks for reading out research. For any questions or comments reach out to me or any of our team today, or visit our website www.parksassociates.com

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