Smart meter and in-home display for energy savings in residential buildings: a pilot investigation in Shanghai, China

Smart meters and in-home displays (IHDs) have been recently adopted to help give residential users more control over energy consumption, and meet environmental and supply security objectives. The article aims to identify the effectiveness and potential of smart meters and real-time IHDs in reducing Shanghai household energy consumption by affecting occupants’ behaviour. A general landscape of the occupant behaviour in residential buildings was briefly painted. A pilot study in Shanghai with an effective sample of 131 respondents was arranged into two groups as IHD and non-IHD households. A dedicated statistical analysis model was developed based on the micro-level empirical data to investigate the characteristics and the regulations of electricity consumption in these two groups, such as check frequency, electricity consumption reduction and shifting, energy bill saving, and standby power. The research results demonstrate that IHDs could lead to around 9.1% reduction in monthly electricity consumption and about 11.0% cut off in monthly electricity bills. A general comparison of the electricity consumption reduction between this research and the average UK case was further made. Barriers at current stage and challenges for further work were finally discussed. The statistical model is expected to ‘future proof’ smart meter and real-time displays through macro-level designing in modularity and flexibility in China. The overall research initially proves the concept of the feasible impact of smart meter and display technologies in the Chinese context, which is further expected to contribute to the empirical evidence on how IHD feedback could influence household electricity consumption in the Chinese context.