DEFACTO: Digital Energy Feedback and Control Technology Optimisation

数字技术（DT）渗透在我们的日常生活中，最明显的是在电脑和智能手机上，但在洗衣机、冰箱和电动淋浴器等家用产品上则不那么明显；它帮助这些系统在很少人为干预的情况下高效运行。随着能源成本的上升，人们对使用DT来监控家庭能源使用越来越感兴趣。所有的英国家庭都将很快拥有智能电表，使我们能够看到每半小时用了多少电和煤气。我们可能会选择利用这些信息来改变我们做事的方式，从而节省能源，但同样，我们也可能不会。许多制造商，如Secure，是这项研究的合作伙伴，正在制造智能设备来帮助我们控制如何以及何时使用能源。从外观简单，但内部相当复杂的恒温器和计时器，到能够让我们通过智能手机控制家中每个散热器的系统，这些系统各不相同。但现在，我们对这些DT设备和系统可以节省多少能源，如果有的话，以及它们在哪些家庭中最有效，知之甚少。最近的一项研究表明，如果操作不当，它们实际上会增加能源消耗。一些小型研究表明，智能系统一开始可以节省能源，但我们不知道随着家庭的增长和变化，它们是否会继续这样做，或者随着新鲜感的消退。这个项目的第一个目标是找出DT可以节省多少能源（如果有的话），以及节省的能源能持续多久。为了帮助减少国家的能源使用，并使我们的家庭更舒适，政府将很快推出绿色协议。在能源和气候变化部（也是项目合作伙伴）的协调下，《绿色协议》将使家庭能够贷款来支付节能措施。贷款将通过能源账单偿还，这必须比没有翻新的情况下要少；所谓的黄金法则。项目的另一个合作伙伴百安居（B&Q）等公司计划每年翻新数千套房屋。不幸的是，翻新通常比预期节省更少的能源，有违反黄金法则的风险。这将使家庭感到不安，如果蔓延开来，它将对装修业务和国家绿色协议计划的可信度造成致命损害。DT可以提供帮助，因为它可以监控翻新前后的能源使用情况，这有助于我们预测如果不进行翻新，能源需求会是多少。因此，对黄金法则的遵从性或其他方面可以进行测试。因此，该项目的第二个目标是找出如何最好地使用DT来提高绿色交易翻新的有效性。这项研究将集中在大量翻新的家庭，因为在这些家庭中，我们预计家庭对他们的能源需求更感兴趣，因此更倾向于使用DT来控制他们的能源使用。这是一个以前没有在我们设想的规模或时间范围内进行过研究的领域。试验将在大约600个家庭中进行，为期五年，分为三组，每组使用不同的数字节能设备或系统。每组中的房屋将根据家庭特征进行细分。这项研究将揭示如下问题：提供反馈和控制是否过于复杂？它会导致一些家庭的能源消耗增加吗？在一些家庭中，简单的设备会更好用吗？智能设备究竟能额外节省多少能源？DT系统可以改进吗？如果可以，如何改进？该项目将为这些问题和其他问题提供答案，因此对绿色协议提供商、DT设备和系统制造商、国家和地方政府官员，当然还有英国家庭本身都有巨大的好处，让他们有信心投资于翻新和有效控制他们的能源账单。

Digital technology (DT) pervades our everyday life, most obviously in computers and smart phones but less obviously in household products such as washing machines, refrigerators and electric showers; it helps these run efficiently with little human intervention.As the cost of energy rises, there is a growing interest in using DT to monitor home energy use. All UK homes will soon have smart meters, enabling us to see how much electricity and gas has been used each half hour. We might choose to use this information to alter the way we do things and so save energy, but equally, we might not.Many manufacturers, like Secure, which is a partner in this study, are making smart devices to help us control how and when we use energy. These vary from simple looking, but internally quite sophisticated, thermostats and timers to systems that will enable us to control every radiator in our homes, and to do this from our smart phones.Right now though, we have very little idea of how much energy these DT devices and systems might save, if any, and in which households they might work best. A recent study showed that they can actually increase energy use if not operated correctly. Some small studies have shown that smart systems can save energy at first, but we don't know if they will continue to do so as households grow and change, or as the novelty wears off. The first aim of this project is to find out how much energy, if any, DT can save and for how long the savings endure.To help reduce the nation's energy use, and to make our homes more comfortable, the government will soon launch the Green Deal. Coordinated by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, which is also a project partner, the Green Deal will enable households to take on loans to pay for energy efficiency measures. The loan will be paid back through the energy bill, which must be less than it would have been without the refurbishment; the so-called Golden Rule. Companies like B&Q, another project partner, plan to refurbish many thousands of homes a year.Unfortunately, refurbishment often saves less energy than expected, risking contravention of the Golden Rule. This would be upsetting to households and, if widespread, it would fatally damage a refurbishment business and the credibility of the national Green Deal programme. DT can help because it enables energy use before and after refurbishment to be monitored, which helps us predict what the energy demand would have been had the refurbishment not taken place. Compliance or otherwise with the Golden Rule can therefore be tested. The second aim of the project therefore, is to find out how best to use DT to improve the effectiveness of Green Deal refurbishment.The study will focus on homes that have extensive refurbishment, because in these homes we expect households to be more interested in their energy demand and so more inclined to use DT to control their energy use. This is an area that has not been studied before at the scale, or over the time period we envisage. Trials will be conducted over a five year period in around 600 homes, divided into three groups, each with a different digital energy saving device or system. The homes in each group will be segmented by household characteristics. The study will shed light on such questions as: can the provision of feedback and control be just too complicated? Might it lead to higher energy use in some households? Would simpler devices work better in some households? Just how much additional energy saving do smart devices generate? Can the DT systems be improved and if so how? The project will provide answers to these and other questions and so be of enormous benefit to Green Deal providers, DT device and systems manufacturers, national and local government officials and, of course, UK householders themselves, giving them confidence to invest in refurbishment and effective control of their energy bills.