Negotiating thermal comfort in the provision of smart heating

采用带有智能加热控制（SHC）的热泵进行直接负荷控制（DLC）预计将在英国的热量脱碳中发挥关键作用。它可以成功地帮助减少供暖需求，并使其适应低碳能源的可变发电。这项技术要求用户在一天中的每个时间都传达他们的最低温度偏好，并优化热泵的运行以实现这些目标，同时减少高峰时段的电力需求。这种做法隐含的假设是，用户知道他们的温度偏好，这些是不可谈判的要求，用户的需求可以用这些术语来传达。然而，我们对用户的需求，他们重新配置它们的意愿或如何主观和客观地衡量它们并将其转化为供热系统的行为知之甚少。利用科学和技术研究（STS）的概念，该博士旨在研究影响供暖要求的参数，它们如何与关键的物理环境变量相关，并探索协调用户和电力系统需求的选项。其目的是为以人为本的供暖控制奠定基础，以对住户有意义的相关术语为住户设计。

The adoption of heat pumps with smart heating controls (SHC) for direct load control (DLC) is expected to play a critical role in the decarbonisation of heat in the UK. It could successfully contribute to electrify the heating demand and to adapt it to the variable generation of low-carbon electricity sources. This technology requires users to communicate their minimum temperature preferences for each time of the day and optimises the operation of the heat pump to achieve them while reducing the electricity demand at peak times. That approach implicitly assumes that users know their temperature preferences, that these are non-negotiable requirements and that users' necessities can be communicated in these terms. However, we know little about the user's demands, their willingness to reconfigure them or how to gauge them subjectively and objectively and translate them into heating system actions. Using concepts from Science and Technology Studies (STS), this PhD aims to study the parameters influencing heating requirements, how they relate to key physical environmental variables and explore options to reconcile the needs of the users and the electricity system. It aims to establish the groundwork for human-centred heating controls, designed for households in relevant terms that are meaningful to them.