Authors
Optimering af grøn strøm ved hjælp af
Advisors & Mentors
Project description
This paper seeks to examine the possibility of optimizing the use of sustainable energy in Danish
households by implementing smart plugs. It was concluded in the examinatory phases of the
project, that the automatic (conditionally determined in the app) start of energy intensive
household appliances would be a boon in regard to using sustainable energy as it is being
produced. We tested the smart plugs in four different households, with special regard to
behavioral design and affordances. We analyzed the app used to interface with the smart plugs,
with particular attention to functionality. The test induction of smart plugs was undertaken with
two households offered in an auto-ethnographic effort by the authors of this paper, and two
external willing households who were interviewed after using the plugs for a week. This paper
finds that there exists multiple barriers to the induction of smart plugs into the households on a
practical level where automation is concerned. And ultimately our findings indicate that a longer
trial is needed to make any conclusive observations about changed behavior.
