Market research firm Navigant Research released a new report predicting that 32 million smart thermostats will have been installed worldwide by 2020, a giant leap from the less than 1.4 million currently installed today. According to report the global smart thermostat market could be worth nearly $1.4 billion by 2020, up from about $100 million. With their convenience, advanced technology, and data collection ability, smart thermostats can change the way people interact with their houses and lead to energy- and cost-savings by allocating energy use and allowing for remote control.
They are also a boon for utility companies, which can monitor energy use, collect more data, and do things like shave energy consumption during a peak grid event while maintaining comfort levels. By combining behavioral data with utility data, weather data, personal use data, demographics data and more utilities can collectively manage the thermostats and deliver energy savings.
The report predicts that much of the growth will occur because utilities will sell more devices to their customers to avoid unnecessary expansion costs or meet energy efficiency goals or mandates.
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