ON World

1 in 4 Technology Early Adopters More Interested
in Smart Home Energy Due to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a mixed impact on smart home energy solutions. Lower priced smart energy products such as basic smart thermostats and smart plug adapters accelerated. However, adoption slowed for higher priced smart energy products such as smart appliances and learning thermostats that are more likely to be installed professionally.

ON World’s recently completed survey with 1,500 online adults in North America found that 23% of those who are currently using or likely to use smart energy products are more interested in smart energy solutions due to the pandemic. In addition, 14% of the surveyed online consumers in the US are planning to purchase a smart thermostat and over half of these intend to buy more than one.

Of the respondents who are current smart home users, 78% have purchased a smart thermostat and 62% have purchased remote temperature sensors in the last two years to optimize the room-level climate control of their smart thermostats. In addition, three-quarters purchased an average of 2.6 smart plug adapters over the past two years.

Smart Thermostat Competition Intensifies 

Smart thermostat adoption per household has been relatively flat until this year when a wider range of lower cost connected thermostats started to gain traction. Examples of these lower priced smart thermostats include Google’s Nest E, Amazon’s smart thermostat and Zen, available through Comcast’s Xfinity Home service. Household smart thermostat penetration rates in the US is currently about 15%.

Growing opportunities for software-based machine learning offered through consumers' utility which gives consumers advanced learning thermostat features using a lower cost basic model.

Smart thermostat household penetration in North America will reach 34% by 2026 up from 13% in 2020.

Smart Plug Innovations

Newer entrants such as Amazon has driven awareness and adoption for smart plugs. Intensifying competition and accelerated demand is driven down prices. Smart plugs will make up nearly two-thirds of the unit shipments in 2016 but only 20% of the revenues.

Households using smart plugs tend to have multiple smart plugs and multi-packs are a growing trend. The lower cost per unit for multi-packs are responsible for much of the price decline.

Outdoor smart plugs are another growing trend and will make up 13% of the revenues in 2026.

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About ON World:
ON World provides market research and business intelligence on Internet of Things (IoT).  Since 2003, our research reports, datasets and customized research services have been used by Fortune 500 companies, investors and developers worldwide to advance IoT solutions in hundreds of industries.

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