Drivers and Barriers to the Adoption of Smart Home Energy Management Systems – Users’ Perspective

Smart home energy management system (SHEMS) is a technology, through which households can decrease and manage energy consumption and avoid demand peaks. For a significant sustainable impact, SHEMS should be adopted on a large scale. Based on semi-structured interviews with three user groups (new, prospective and experienced users) from 28 households we identify drivers and barriers to the adoption of SHEMS. The key drivers to adopt SHEMS are saving energy for economic and environmental reasons, increased comfort of living, safety and curiosity. Yet, there is lack of knowledge on SHEMS and how it relates to the larger energy system and use of renewable energy. Price of SHEMS and estimated low ROI, too complicated systems, and retrofitting problems also slow down the adoption. The results inform Information Systems research on sustainable and smart home technologies, including implications on the design of future home energy management technologies and policy planning