New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that 70% of U.S. households with smart energy devices report saving money due to reduced energy consumption. However, the report also notes the difficulty of selling smart energy devices based on cost savings as 83% of U.S. broadband households do not know the price they are paying for electricity.
“Residential customers today see energy as a necessary expense, and while 62% of U.S. broadband households strongly believe that saving energy and lowering utility bills are important, getting them to pay for these benefits has proven difficult,” said Eddie Accomando, research analyst, Parks Associates. “Electricity does not currently drive customer action, but as the process of energy production changes through DR, solar, and storage innovations, energy management will become a much more significant value-added service within the connected home.”
The ability to aggregate and analyze consumer energy data can put companies ahead of the curve in the energy sector of the connected home, according to Parks Associates, and many companies are forming strategic partnerships today in order to leverage the increasing amount of data. For example, Comcast and WeatherBug Home announced a partnership in February 2016, where WeatherBug Home will provide data and analytics for Xfinity Home’s energy-saving tool, EcoSaver.
“Consumer data on energy usage is invaluable in guiding new smart home business models, and companies that can leverage this data in the IoT to deliver comfort, control, and convenience to consumers will drive the next wave of connected home platform adoption,” Accomando said.
