Analyzing smart thermostat data to uncover trends in remote work behaviors

The widespread adoption of hybrid work arrangements due to COVID-19 pandemic warrants an examination of post-pandemic home energy consumption. There is considerable uncertainty regarding teleworkers' energyrelated behaviors when they telework. This study investigates teleworkers' thermostat use preferences when working from home using data from the "ecobee" thermostat "Donate Your Data" program. The dataset included occupancy and setpoint data from 3,789 houses with records both before and after the pandemic, enabling us to estimate teleworkers' setpoint usage across Canada. To identify households with teleworker(s), we analyzed weekly house occupancy patterns, and tracked the number of hours each home was vacant during regular office hours. The study reveals that 12 % of the 3,789 analyzed households in Canada adopted telework post-pandemic, with 31 % working from home five days a week. Among the 472 households adopting telework, 42 % used setback strategies during winter weekdays pre-pandemic. The findings indicated that households engaged in teleworking raised their winter thermostat setpoints by an average of 0.66 degrees C and decreased their summer thermostat setpoint by an average of 1.62 degrees C compared to the period that their home was vacant during office hours. Additionally, 25 % of households without air conditioners before the pandemic purchased one afterward when they adopted remote work, in comparison to only 11 % of non-teleworking households without an air conditioner purchased one after the pandemic. These findings highlight the changing patterns of occupancy and thermostat preferences among Canadian households in the post-pandemic era, aiding researchers in future energy quantification related to remote work adoption.