GOTHENBURG, Sweden — The number of North American and European homes with a smart thermostat grew by 81 percent to 5.8 million in 2015, according to a new research report from Berg Insight. The North American market recorded a 78 percent growth in the installed base of smart thermostats to 4.5 million. In Europe, the total number of homes with a smart thermostat grew by 90 percent year-on-year to reach 1.4 million.

Berg Insight forecasts that the number of homes with smart thermostats in North America and Europe will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 54.5 percent during the next five years to reach 51.1 million in 2020. North America will remain the largest market at the end of the forecast period with 32.2 million homes that have smart thermostats, whereas the installed base in Europe is expected to reach 18.9 million homes.

Smart thermostats are a particularly attractive opportunity in the smart home market, as these products are of great interest to consumers, energy companies, and HVAC service providers, said Berg Insight. Consumers embrace smart thermostats primarily due to the potential for energy savings, increased comfort, and convenience. For energy companies, smart thermostats open up new possibilities to introduce consumer-friendly demand response and energy efficiency programs. These programs can enable significant capital savings as lower peak load can reduce expenditures on reserve power generation and the need to purchase energy on the spot market. And adding intelligence to residential heating and cooling systems opens up new opportunities for HVAC service providers. Predictive maintenance and remote diagnostics can allow repair and maintenance activities to be streamlined and done more efficiently.

The North American smart thermostat market is led by Nest, Honeywell, and ecobee, said Berg Insight, with each having sold more than a million thermostats, primarily through the retail, utility, and professional installer channels.

For more information, visit www.berginsight.com.

Publication date: 6/13/2016

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