A general framework for customized transition to smart homes

Smart homes have the potential to achieve efficient energy consumption: households can profit from appropriately scheduled consumption. By 2020, 35% of all households in North America and 20% in Europe are expected to become smart homes. Developing a smart home requires considerable investment, and the householders expect a positive return. In this context, this work addresses the following question: what and/or when equipment should be bought for a specific site to gain a positive return on the investment? This work proposes a framework to guide the smart-home transition considering customized electricity usage. The framework is based on linear models and gives a simple payback analysis of each combination of equipment acquisition for any specific user taking into account geographical location and local conditions. It also possible to use the framework for equipment sizing. The results quantify the dependence of the simple payback on the site and the application.