Earlier this year we wrapped up a year-long programme working with the Energy Systems Catapult (ESC), a not-for-profit innovation accelerator targeted with decarbonising the energy system. In lay terms, this means looking at ways we can move from gas and fossil fuels for our domestic heating and energy needs, to more sustainable alternatives.
ESC had been running their living lab approach for a year prior to our introduction. Building their own proprietary system – a combination of sensors, smart radiator valves, meter readers and an easy to understand interface for the user – they had recruited a hundred owner-occupiers to install and use it in their day to day lives. The system would provide the resident with some energy saving benefits - like the ability to heat one room in isolation, and control this through a mobile phone – but also send important energy usage and behaviour data to ESC.
As the first Housing Association to work with the Catapult, we contributed a small number of our homes – with the consultation and consent of our customers – to the living lab so that we, and ESC, might better understand the heating and energy usage of those who reported being more at risk of fuel poverty, termed ‘vulnerable households’.
Ok – so what? Why is it important to know heating behaviours?
If you’ve ever been involved in the real-world testing of some new technology – be it air source heat pumps or solar battery storage – you’ll probably already realise that all the careful procurement, project management and customer aftercare in the world doesn’t matter if the fundamental way a new system works, either by design or limitation of physics, is incongruous with a residents expectations. How many tests and pilots evaluations are closed with ‘Didn’t achieve expected outcomes due to variances in customer behaviour’? More than a few I’d wager…
Image of illustrated houses showing different heating usage amongst house holds more at risk of fuel poverty
Phase one showed us there is no one-size-fits-all profile for heating usage amongst households more at risk of fuel poverty.
The gold standard of home heating at the moment is the combination boiler. Instant hot water and instant heating at the push of a button. Enough power (usually) to boost a cold home up to temperature in a modest timeframe. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the least sustainable heating systems (as it can’t be supplied through renewable sources) and their removal/repurposing is the focus of the 2050 net zero target.
The problem is, the way gas boilers supply heat is desirable, because it’s adaptable to suit a wide range of needs and affordability. Furthermore, gas boilers still work OK in draughty homes. Some of the newer technologies don’t – and they rely on following a relatively strict regime for heating to actually work, let alone be affordable.
This brings us to phase two of the living lab programme, which we’re currently working with ESC to develop. In developing an understanding of heating behaviours in domestic properties, we can start to understand how new technology must work in order to be successful in the eyes of the customer because ultimately, the customer is in the driving seat. If a technology is dependent on stringent usage criteria or unreasonably insulated homes then it might not have a place in our retrofit programmes, if at all.
So – what are the insights going into phase two, about customer behaviour and heating?
Vulnerable households are not all the same: they are different in what they want to use heat for, their heating experiences and what they want to spend. While they may negotiate relationship between cost and experience, they wouldn’t compromise on their main need for heat (e.g. for health reasons)
Households know their energy spend, but not the cost of heating. As this is a huge area of impact during winter, more effort to showcase costs would be helpful to ensure customers are making the right heating decisions for them and their wallets.
Vulnerable households are often left out in the design of future innovations but, as there is no obvious heating behaviours setting this group apart from non-vulnerable households, they have every right to be consulted and become empowered energy consumers in the future.
We have, of course, also got a year’s worth of historic heating usage data available for the homes currently participating, so we can see whether new heating systems or technology has forced a (desirable or otherwise) change in the way customers call upon their energy. The achillies heel of many new tech deployments.
More updates coming soon. Thanks again to the homes who have participated in the trial so far!