Beyond thermostat setpoints and comfort: an interview study examining attitudes, behaviors, and context around grid-interactive smart homes

Electric grids are challenged by increasing demand and supply volatility. In response, utilities are implementing demand response (DR) programs to reduce peak demand. However, previous residential DR studies have shown consumers often override these events, reducing their effectiveness. Improving DR programs requires better understanding of householder thermal behaviors and motivations. Research has not comprehensively examined relationships between reported thermostat and building interactions, balancing comfort, energy consumption, and costs against larger societal issues such as attitudes to climate risk, smart technology, and community engagement. The WEH project is a multi-year study with quantitative and qualitative data on human-building interactions in single-family homes with forced-air heating and air-conditioning and smart thermostats located in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Florida. This paper presents the development and preliminary results of a pre-enrollment semi-structured interview. This multi-faceted interview integrates validated or widely used question sets including demographic comparisons, thermostat mental-model frameworks, thermal comfort practices, climate attitudes, and risk measures. Participants often combined environmental concern, interest in energy efficiency, and comfort with smart-home technologies, but these attitudes did not translate into a simple willingness to accept thermal discomfort. Instead, reported thermostat practices revealed that comfort remained a primary decision criterion, especially when householders felt responsible for children, older adults, pets, or other vulnerable occupants. The findings highlight that efficacious residential DR design cannot rely on indoor comfort and technology acceptance alone. Further studies integrating these factors, including further analyses of this dataset, can help shed light on design strategies that incorporate broader risk and social motivations.