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Surveys Reveal Consumer Preference for ‘Smart’
Homes
What do consumers want in home automation?
The answer: “Smart” electronics that can be incorporated into
either a major remodeling project or new construction.
Some specifics:
- A recent survey by the Consumer Electronics Association
revealed that 63% of the consumers polled said they want lighting
that turns itself on when someone approaches their house and some
55% want to be warned as they leave the home that an appliance
hasn’t been turned off. - The same survey demonstrated that another 43% of the homeowners
questioned said they are interested in appliances that announce
when they need service, and 37% liked the idea of appliances that
could compile shopping lists. However, three out of four consumers
said they did not want the appliances to schedule that service or
do the laundry by itself. - At the same time, the Yankee Group, which puts on the Annual
Networked Home Symposium, finds that as many as 21 million U.S.
households are interested in remodeling for smarter use. Estimates
show that 12.4 million of these households want to implement home
networking capabilities within the next year. Meanwhile, 37% of
consumers want to control their home heating and cooling through a
computer network, and 36% want to be able to control an appliance
from elsewhere in the home.