ABSTRACT
This paper discusses findings made during a study of energy use feedback in the home (eco-feedback), well after the novelty has worn off. Contributing towards four important knowledge gaps in the research, we explore eco-feedback over longer time scales, focusing on instances where the feedback was not of lasting benefit to users rather than when it was. Drawing from 23 semi-structured interviews with Australian householders, we found that an initially high level of engagement gave way over time to disinterest, neglect and in certain cases, technical malfunction. Additionally, preconceptions concerned with the "purpose" of the feedback were found to affect use. We propose expanding the scope of enquiry for eco-feedback in several ways, and describe how eco-feedback that better supports decision-making in the "maintenance phase", i.e. once the initial novelty has worn off, may be key to longer term engagement.
- Barua, D., Kay, J., Paris, C.: Viewing and controlling personal sensor data: What do users want? In Proc: PERSUASIVE 2013, Sydney, Australia (2013) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Brynjarsdottir, H., Hakansson, M., Pierce, J., Baumer, E., DiSalvo, C., and Sengers, P.: Sustainably unpersuaded: how persuasion narrows our vision of sustainability, In Proc: CHI 2012, Austin, USA. (2012) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Darby, S. The effectiveness of feedback on energy consumption. A review for DEFRA of the literature on metering, billing, and direct displays. (2006). Available at: http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/downloads/smart-metering-report.pdf. Accessed: 30/9/13Google Scholar
- Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC): Smart meters: A guide (2013) Available at: https://www.gov.uk/smart-meters-how-they-work. Accessed 24/6/13.Google Scholar
- Erickson, T., Li, M., Kim, Y., Deshpande, A., Sahu, S., Chao, T., Sukaviriya, P., and Naphade, M.: The dubuque electricity portal: evaluation of a city-scale residential electricity consumption feedback system. In Proc: CHI 2013, Paris, France (2013) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Faruqui, A., S. Sergici, and Sharif, A.: The impact of informational feedback on energy consumption-A survey of the experimental evidence. Energy 35 (4): 1598--1608 (2010)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Fischer, C.: Feedback on household electricity consumption: a tool for saving energy? Energy Efficiency 1 (1): 79--104 (2008).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Froehlich, J., Findlater, L and Landay, J.: The design of eco-feedback technology. In Proc: CHI 2010, Atlanta, USA (2010). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Froehlich, J., Findlater, L., Ostergren, M., Ramanathan, S., Peterson, J., Wragg, I., Larson, Fu, F., Bai, M., Patel, S. H., and Landay J.: The design and evaluation of prototype eco-feedback displays for fixture-level water use data. In: Proc: CHI 2012, Austin, USA, (2012) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Fujinami, K., and Riekki, J.: A case study on an ambient display as a persuasive medium for exercise awareness. In H. Oinas-Kukkonen et al. (Eds): Persuasive 2008: San Diego, USA (2008) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Gamberini, L., Spagnolli, A., Corradi, N., Jacucci, G., Tusa, G., Mikkola, T., Zamboni, L., Hoggan E.: Tailoring feedback to users' actions in a persuasive game for household electricity consumption. In M. Bang and E. L Ragnemalm (Eds.): Persuasive 2012, Linköping, Sweden (2012) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Grønhøj, A, and J Thøgersen. Feedback on household electricity consumption: learning and social influence processes. International Journal of Consumer Studies 35 (2): 138--145 (2011)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Hargreaves, T., Nye, M., and Burgess, J.: Making energy visible: A qualitative field study of how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors. Energy Policy 38 (10): 6111--6119 (2010)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Hargreaves, T., Nye, M., and Burgess, J.: Keeping energy visible: Exploring how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors in the longer term. Energy Policy 52: 126--134 (2013)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Karjalainen, S.: Consumer preferences for feedback on household electricity consumption. Energy and Buildings 43 (2--3): 458--467 (2011)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Petkov, P., Köbler, F., Foth, M., Krcmar, H.: Motivating domestic energy conservation through comparative, community based feedback in mobile and social media. In Proc: C&T 2011, Brisbane, Australia (2011). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Pierce, J., Fan, C., Lomas, D., Marcu, G., Paulos, E.: Some considerations on the (in)effectiveness of residential energy feedback systems. In Proc: DIS 2010, Aarhus, Denmark (2010) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Li, I., Dey, D. K., Forlizzi, J.: Understanding my data, myself: Supporting self-reflection with Ubicomp technologies. In Proc: UbiComp 2011, Beijing, China (2011). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Local Government Infrastructure Services (LGIS: Climate Smart Home Service, Queensland Government, (2013). Available at: http://www.climatesmarthome.com/what-was.html. Accessed: 24/6/13.Google Scholar
- Riche, Y., Dodge, J., Metoyer, R., Studying always-on electricity feedback in the home. In Proc: CHI 2010, Atlanta, USA (2010) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Schwartz, T., Denef, S., Stevens, G., Ramirez, L., Wulf, V.: Cultivating energy literacy- Results from a longitudinal living lab study of a home energy management system. In Proc: CHI 2013, Paris, France (2013) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Snow, S., and Brereton, M.: Beyond demand management: The value of sharing electricity information. In Proc: 26th British Computer Society HCI Conference, Birmingham, UK (2012) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Snow, S., and Brereton, M.: Towards engaged consumption: new sources of inspiration for eco-feedback design. Proc: Interact 2013: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8120, pp. 117--124. (2013)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Strengers, Y. Beyond demand management: co-managing energy and water practices with Australian households. Policy Studies 32 (1): 35--58. (2011)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Tolmie, P., and Crabtree, A. Deploying research technology in the home. In Proc: Computer Supported Cooperative Work 2008, San Diego, USA (2008) Google ScholarDigital Library
- van Dam, S., Bakker, C. A., and van Hal, J. D. M.: Home energy monitors: impact over the medium-term, Building Research & Information, 38: 458--469 (2010).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Wallenborn, G., M. Orsini, and J. Vanhaverbeke.: Household appropriation of electricity monitors. International Journal of Consumer Studies 35 (2): 146--152, (2011)Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Curiosity to cupboard: self reported disengagement with energy use feedback over time
Recommendations
Where Are They Now?: Revisiting Energy Use Feedback a Decade After Deployment
OzCHI '19: Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-InteractionIn home displays (IHD's) of energy use offers potential to engage households with energy use and improve energy literacy. Yet explorations of use over longer time periods are lacking. Based on qualitative in-home interviews with 19 participants, this ...
Cultivating energy literacy: results from a longitudinal living lab study of a home energy management system
CHI '13: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsThis paper presents results of a three-year research project focused on the emplacement of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) in a living lab setting with seven households. The HEMS used in this study allowed householders to monitor energy ...
Energy diet: energy feedback on a bathroom scale
UbiComp '14: Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous ComputingEnergy Diet is a design concept for a digital bathroom scale that displays personal health information in the form of body weight alongside environmental health information in the form of carbon weight. We intentionally conflate these two types of ...
Comments