Author: Giovanni

In a very interesting and readable article, the digital magazine REPUBLIK has compiled the 25 most burning questions and answers about the current energy supply.

Especially with regard to our research project, point 9 should be noted: with our research in cooperation with the energy supply companies and the participating households, we contribute to a further development in data collection and consumption feedback to the customers.

Link to the article: : https://www.republik.ch/2022/10/27/geht-uns-diesen-winter-der-strom-aus-und-falls-ja-was-dann

On Feb 1, the new Social Power Plus app was launched for use by the registered household participants in the regions of Schaffhausen, Winterthur and Wil. The app is connected to the household’s electricity or gas smart meter thus participants can see their energy consumption on an hourly basis. A big jump from the usual quarterly or yearly energy readings! The app has been developed by research teams at SUPSI and ZHAW, as well as supported with data processing by CLEMAP, and all in cooperation with the regional energy utilities: EKS, Stadtwerk Winterthur, and Technische Betriebe Wil.

However, the goal of the project is to encourage energy savings, and multiple research studies have shown that providing data alone will not help reach this goal. Thus, through a co-creation design process with household participants in 2021, the research team additionally implemented further features to support behaviour change for energy savings. Beyond the daily and weekly energy consumption and savings information, the participants can take part in challenges to save energy, get tips for saving energy in different areas of their home, and share personal experiences and suggestions in the app on thematic pinboards.

On the evening of Feb 1, the research and data team held a short introduction session online to get to know each other a little better, finding out why people wanted to participate, and explaining the app. Motivations were very different: from the interest in how to save energy to the desire to contribute to research activities.  The variety in responses is very positive and appreciated, as we hoped to attract a diverse group of participants.

Now, almost a month later, we are seeing how this diversity is playing out in the app use. We have received feedback by email, telephone and within the app’s pinboards about where misunderstandings are occurring and what additional features would be welcomed. We have listened to these requests and have actively been answering any questions. As well, the app development team has implemented several new features: a year-to-date view of the weekly energy consumption, a total energy curve in addition to the break-down of consumption by heating and other appliances, and the consumption baseline (used to calculate energy savings) will be reset every month to adjust for seasonal changes in energy use.

Additionally, the thematic pinboards have been buzzing with questions and answers between participants about energy saving devices at home, tips & tricks for behavioural changes, and enquiries about the optimal settings of the heating and other appliances. The community, of almost 200 people using the app, has definitely proven to be a network and resource to itself.

For the coming two months, March and April, there will be new challenges in different thematic areas released in the app, like how to save energy when cooking, cleaning or working from home. And at the end of each month, a regional energy challenge will compare the saving prowess of each of the regions.

The image represents the participants’ answers according to how often they look at the app (asked at the second online meeting held on 22.2.22).

It has been almost a month since the Social Power Plus app was launched, and the households from the regions of Schaffhausen, Winterthur and Wil have been saving energy. The app and data teams have been busy in the background answering questions and fixing bugs, and the participants have been readily supplying inputs and new ideas.

On Feb 22, we held an online networking event to explain some of the latest developments of the last month and give some time for participants to get to know each other. Over 90 people joined, and we collected even more useful inputs.

We asked them what they found most interesting in the app, and the strong favourite was the hourly energy consumption, separated into heating and other uses, provided for the day before, the last week, and summarised in an ongoing weekly total chart.

On Feb 1, we launched the new Social Power Plus app for the registered participants in the regions of Schaffhausen, Winterthur and Wil. The app can be used to monitor the daily and weekly energy consumption, take part in challenges to save energy, get tips for saving energy in different parts of your home, and share personal experiences and suggestions between participants.

On the evening of Feb 1, we held a short introduction session to get to know each other a little better, finding our why people wanted to participate, and explaining the app.

We look forward to see how people get to know the app and their energy consumption.

It has been a while since the participating households signed up for the project “Social Power Plus: We are the energy saving foxes” in autumn.
In the meantime, the energy meters have been installed at EKS customers’ homes. We have also finished the app and created the necessary technical configurations so that the app will display the correct data for each household. In fact, the Social Power Plus energy-saving competition will soon get underway!
At the end of January, participants will receive the first online survey via email and at the beginning of February, households will be able to download the Social Power Plus app and monitor their energy consumption in various displays. Households can set their own savings targets, take part in energy-saving challenges, read and write their own energy tips and compete to win the regional energy-saving competition.