Martin Vilaseca, Adrià;
(2024)
Exploring home heating practices: A social and technical analysis of space heating with hybrid heat pumps operated by smart controls.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The adoption of heat pumps (HP) with smart heating controls (SHC) for demand response (DR) is expected to play a critical role in the decarbonisation of heat in the UK. It could successfully contribute to electrifying the heating demand and adapting it to the variable generation of low-carbon electricity sources. However, in most cases, these technologies optimise the provision of heat considering only one input from householders: their minimum temperature preferences for each time of the day. This approach implicitly assumes that householders are only concerned about minimum temperatures and times, and, moreover, that these are non-negotiable requirements. This thesis explored these assumptions by analysing heating practices with smart heat pumps in a case study developed by the industry sponsor. The study takes a Social Practice Theory (SPT) approach and uses mixed methods, combining householders' recounting their experiences with the technologies, monitoring key physical environmental variables and analysing householders’ communications with the customer service team (CST). The investigation found that for the technologies to operate as designed, they require adapting heating practices, which does not always happen. The operation of these technologies affected parameters that play a critical role in the existing practices. In particular, the analysis measured lower flow temperature and average heat output, longer and different heating times, less temperature oscillation and less temperature drop during non-warmth requested periods. Some of these parameters define the meanings of comfort and/or the know-how to minimise waste. Changes in them generated conflicts and led to householders’ actions to manually operate the system, which reduced its capacity to forecast the heating demand. Therefore, this thesis highlights the need to consider the complexity of the existing heating practices and develop technologies that are more aligned with them. Moreover, the findings suggest the importance of developing strategies to help householders transform these practices.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Exploring home heating practices: A social and technical analysis of space heating with hybrid heat pumps operated by smart controls |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10194983 |
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