An assessment of opinions and perceptions of smart thermostats using aspect-based sentiment analysis of online reviews

Smart thermostats have been on the market for nearly a decade, with an estimated adoption rate of 7% in 2018. With many regions of the U.S. having a heating and/or cooling system in nearly 100% of households, there is significant opportunity for further adoption, which can help support energy savings and building-grid interactions. However, more insight is needed to provide a better understanding of their utilization and user opinions. In this study, online reviews are used to evaluate users’ perceptions and attitudes towards smart thermostats. 26,372 product reviews were collected for five commercially-available smart thermostats and were analyzed with a confirmatory aspect-based opinion mining technique. An analysis of this dataset shows that the characteristics of the current user population show substantial differences compared to the more widely studied early adopters. When comparing the most commonly discussed topics, users generally do not discuss the energy and cost savings related features of their devices in comparison to other topics such as control, ease of use, and installation. In addition, comfort is discussed nearly twice as much as energy efficiency. The results of this work can help product manufacturers and utility providers to push towards more widespread adoption and efficient use.