Phillip V. Baron (Editor)

Series: Energy Science, Engineering and Technology
BISAC: TEC029000

Home energy management (HEM) systems include hardware and software that monitor residential energy consumption. Among these, home energy displays (HEDs) are stand-alone devices that give whole-home electricity consumption feedback to users. Although previous fieldwork on HEDs has shown that they can reduce electricity consumption by approximately 4%–13%, some studies also suggest that the energy savings do not persist, likely because most HEDs do not continue to engage the user over time. Energy use is largely invisible to most consumers—they may notice when lights are on, but they are far less likely to be aware of how much natural gas their water heater is consuming at any given time.

Energy monitoring devices are able to transform the invisible to the visible by providing consumers with a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of their usage patterns. This meaningful boost in knowledge enables consumers to make more informed short- and long-term decisions about their energy use, from highlighting the importance of shutting off lights to showing the value of replacing an old furnace with a new higher efficiency model. This book provides a better understanding of gas feedback by reviewing the body of research on electricity feedback to identify parallel lessons that could be drawn for gas; discussing benefits and challenges of different types of feedback as related to gas; examining commercially available feedback options; and identifying three gas feedback options that show strong potential and should be the focus of future research and demonstration projects. (Imprint: Novinka )