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Control panel design to promote an appropriate system view of heating controls by emphasizing a link between set point choice with key controls and boiler status. Figure on the right shows boost button, central thermostat and boiler status highlighted in green when all active
Source publication
This paper considers how designs of typical home heating systems fall short in the way they communicate their function to householders, and offers a ‘mental models’ approach to design as an alternative. Revell and Stanton (Appl Ergon 45:363–378, 2014, [13]) identified that inappropriate mental models of heating controls influenced users’ behavior s...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... meet the requirement that the effects of their actions should be visible to the user [8], the outline of the thermostat changes to green when calling for heat. The author's deliberately avoided using a flame icon used in traditional designs to prevent users being misled that an 'active' thermostat necessarily, equates to boiler activation. (see fig. ...
Context 2
... provides feedback of the effects of control adjustments on comfort (shown by variations in room colour) and device activation (links and devices are green when active) across the whole house, removing the obstacle of 'tunnel vision'. Fig.2 shows how the conditional rule is emphasized to users, by grouping key controls by their relationship to boiler activation. ...
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Citations
... First, basic household characteristics, including household size, age, gender, and education level, etc., have been proven to have significant impacts on the energy consumption needs and choices of farmers [22][23][24][25][26][27][28], followed by household economic characteristics, particularly household income. For example, some studies found that household income can significantly promote the conversion of household cooking energy [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. The "energy ladder" theory suggests that, as income rises, the consumption of clean energy for household cooking will change along the "energy ladder", moving from biomass to commodity energy [30]. ...
... For example, some studies found that household income can significantly promote the conversion of household cooking energy [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. The "energy ladder" theory suggests that, as income rises, the consumption of clean energy for household cooking will change along the "energy ladder", moving from biomass to commodity energy [30]. Other studies suggest that income does not affect the choice of clean energy consumption for household cooking as much as the "energy ladder" model assumes, suggesting that biomass consumption has significant "Giffen" commodity characteristics, i.e., consumption decreases as income increases [31,32]. ...
(Motivation) With the transfer of labor force and the continuous improvement of household income, the household energy consumption structure is also changing. (Gaps) However, few studies have explored the correlations between labor off-farm employment (LOE) and farmers’ cooking clean energy (CCE) consumption. (Methodologies) Using survey data of 8198 farmers in 27 provinces from China’s labor dynamic survey in 2016, the IV-Probit model was used to analyze the impact of LOE on CCE use, and the mediation effect model was used to examine the specific mechanism of action between them. (Results) The results found that: (1) LOE accounted for about 39%, and farmers’ utilization rate of CCE accounted for 40%. (2) LOE has significantly promoted the use of CCE by farmers, and this action mechanism is mainly realized through three paths, that is, per capita annual cash income, social relationship network, and family population structure. (3) The heterogeneity analysis results showed that the head of the household having a university education or above, the family being located in rural areas and mountainous areas, and LOE will have a greater positive impact on the farmers’ CCE use. (Policy) From the micro perspective of LOE, this study can deepen our understanding of LOE and CCE use decisions, and then provide a reference for the rational allocation of labor resources and farmers’ CCE-related policy formulation.
... • Expert opinion • No direct research evidence • One or more studies with very severe limitations 9 Although it would be possible to estimate the likely cost effectiveness from the data in the documents, this hasn't been attempted here. 10 Four documents were reviews [3][4][5] and [6] and so did not provide additional primary evidence; four, all from the USA [24][25][26] and [27] described how controls might save energy but provide no evidence for savings; and seven [26,[28][29][30][31] and [32] and [33] used very small samples and focused on matters other than heating controls so did not contribute useful evidence. controller operation. ...
Claims about the benefits of heating controls are often biased, unsubstantiated, misleading, or incorrect. This paper presents a systematic and critical international review of the evidence for the energy saving, cost effectiveness and usability of heating controls. The focus is domestic, low-pressure hot water heating systems in temperate climates. Eleven different types of standard, advanced and smart controls are assessed plus five components and features that add smart functionality. The review retrieved over 2400 documents from on-line databases and other sources. Screening criteria and quality assurance scoring identified just 67 items, mainly from the UK and USA, which appeared to contain relevant evidence. This evidence was derived from computer modelling, field trials and full-scale experiments, and for usability, from expert evaluations and controlled assessments. The evidence was synthesised and its quality classified as very low, low, moderate or high using the GRADE system which is more commonly applied in evidence-based medicine. The energy savings of most heating controls depends strongly on whether the heating system is operated with a continuous or periodic heating pattern, as well as on the energy efficiency of the dwelling and the severity of the climate. For most control types, the quality of the evidence for energy savings was low, very low or non-existent. However, there was moderate quality evidence that, when appropriately commissioned, zonal controllers, which heat individual spaces to different temperatures at different times, could save energy compared to whole-house controllers, and that low-cost systems of this type could be cost-effective. There was moderate quality evidence that smart thermostats do not save energy compared to standard thermostats and programmers and may, in fact, increase energy demand. The usability studies focussed on general heating controls and programmable thermostats and provided high quality evidence that heating controls are difficult to use, especially by older people. However, no studies were uncovered that quantified the consequent energy penalty. There was no high quality evidence about the impact on energy demand of any of the heating controls studied, mainly because there have been no well-founded, large-scale, multidisciplinary , multi-year field trials.
... These same issues were found to contribute to incomplete or incompatible UMMs (Revell & Stanton, 2014, 2015, 2016b, further compounding the problem. Revell and Stanton (2016a, 2016b, 2016c) made a strong case that a mental-models approach to interface design at both the system and device levels could foster the appropriate conceptions necessary for improved performance. ...
... This paper describes the results of a study investigating if the promotion of a compatible UMM through interface design alone allows householders to be more 'in control' of a heating system by enabling boiler activation-regulation strategies that influence the overall duration of goal achievement. Adopting theoretical and case study approaches, the authors have already extended the work of Kempton (1986) to test its present-day relevance (Revell & Stanton, 2014, 2015, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c. However, the body of literature does not show evidence of empirical testing of association between design, mental models, behaviour and goal achievement. ...
... requirements in the form of design specifications for a compatible UMM (Revell & Stanton, 2016b), and design solutions based on these specifications (Revell & Stanton, 2016c). Revell and Stanton (2016b) undertook analysis of this traditional interface at both the 'system' and device level. ...
Occupant behaviour is a key variable affecting the amount of energy used in homes. The understanding, interface and interaction with heating controls hold the potential to influence how heating is operated and, in turn, how much energy is consumed. A study is presented to test a series of hypotheses that the design of the home-heating interface can positively influence the achievement of home-heating goals, if it is specifically designed to communicate a user mental model (UMM) of how the system functions. This would encourage appropriate inhabitant behaviour. The experiment involved 20 pairs of participants matched by age, gender and home-heating experience. The participants were asked to attain a series of home-heating goals using an accelerated home-heating simulator. The impact of specific design features of a novel interface design was compared with an interface offering a traditional home-heating system experience. The evidence confirms that design features contributed to differences in UMMs, intentional behaviour and goal achievement. A mental model approach to design can be used as a means of putting users ‘in control’ of their heating system to enable them to fulfil their home-heating goals better.
This chapter offers a much-needed perspective of the human factors considerations when exploring interactions with sustainable appliances and devices. Using the central heating system as a case study, this chapter highlights the core issues and provides key recommendations for practitioners, designers, and policy makers interested in the important area of sustainable interaction design. By providing an overview of the literature and an example of design application to illustrate the theory, this chapter makes a strong case for adopting a mental models approach to design within a system of systems perspective.
