OVO SAVES WHERE OTHERS CAN'T
THE PROMISE OF THERMOSTATS. HOW DID WE GET HERE
?
It wasn’t long ago that your thermostat was as exciting as a can opener. An appliance doing little and looking the part.
Then in the 80s, programmable digital models were introduced, which only meant we no longer had to manually turn them up/down or on/off, they can be scheduled instead.
Finally, in recent years, creative business heads gave them a sexy user interface, some remote access and called them smart thermostats.
For a thermostat to save energy, occupants must dial back their temperature setpoint when they are away from home or asleep in bed.
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If this schedule is not programmed in, the occupant never really saves any energy.
It’s human behaviour then – not the thermostat – that dictates energy savings.
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AND THEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM !
HOWEVER, THEIR BODACIOUS ENERGY SAVINGS CLAIMS NEVER TRULY MATERIALIZED.
Why
?
THE ISSUE IS NOT WHETHER SETBACK SCHEDULES SAVE ENERGY.
They most certainly do.
The problem is that for setback schedules to yield such energy savings they must be invoked by the occupant.
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Saving energy is heavily reliant on the occupant changing their behaviour.
Of course, some use setback schedules, and that’s laudable!
Unfortunately many others don’t.
And THAT is why thermostats today are not able to save MORE energy.
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" They are simply not able to convince
more of the population to change their behaviour "
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Let's take a little look back in time to understand the reason ...
SETBACK SCHEDULES
INTRODUCED.
A little look back in time :
When manual thermostats prevailed, some would set their thermostats by hand twice daily to conserve energy.
This was a good ritual to encourage.
So, programmable thermostats arrived with the promise of easing more of the population into using setback schedules where they need not carry out the daily dial tweaks.
However, a decade of data later alerted researchers to conclude that the offer of programmable features had failed to persuade MORE of the populace to use setback schedules.
FAST-FORWARD: “SMART” THERMOSTATS BURST ONTO THESCENE.
Issue – It was believed that people did not use scheduling features on programmable thermostats because their interface was awkward and not very user-friendly.
Answer – perhaps the smart thermostat’s intuitive, easy-to-use UI will lead more folks to adopt setback schedules.
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However, another decade passed, millions of data points collected and hundreds of research papers written made clear that a more user-friendly interface still falls short in convincing MORE people to adopt setback schedules.
BUT WE FOUND
ANOTHER WAY
!
We decided to address this issue from a different direction.
SO we redesigned the thermostat from the ground up.
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Now, our core technology is so unique that, for the first time ever, a thermostat can actually track the thermal comfort of the occupant
… and because we are able to do this
we discovered new areas (beyond setback schedules**) to save significant amounts of energy and we require NO change in occupant behaviour.
An example is sometimes the easiest way to understand "how"
Assume that, in winter season, you use 22°C as your go-to setpoint when you’re at home and not sleeping under the covers. Usually that setpoint doesn’t change and it’s possibly a trade-off between energy conservation and your own thermal comfort. But did you know that when a warm front moves in, you would still experience the same levels of comfort if you lower your temperature? Moreover, there’s no need to compromise your thermal comfort, because on colder days, OVO raises the temperature to keep you comfortable.
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Here’s the best part: you still save energy because the math works out. There are more “warm” than “cold” days, and our simulations deliver energy savings in the double digits –never disrupting your thermal comfort. All of this is performed without any adjusting by you, the occupant.
hover over me
**What does 'beyond setback schedules" mean? Unique to OVO is an additional method allowing us to save more, and this is done apart from setback schedules, when the occupant is home and awake – an area never before explored as an opportunity for saving energy!
SO WHY AREN'T MORE PEOPLE USING SETBACK SCHEDULES
?
Reasons abound:
a) housemates with conflicting schedules,
b) leaky homes taking too long to heat/cool, and
c) radiant-HVAC systems being ill-suited for setting back the thermostat.
And there are many other reasons, but one thing is clear: Engaging more of the population to use setback schedules is like beating a dead horse.
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The only way now to get more of the population to adopt setback schedules is a significant rise in energy costs forcing more of the population to reconsider their habits.Educating the public regularly on the merits of energy conservation will be essential.