What thermostat preferences reveal about U.S. energy usage

Maintaining safe indoor temperatures is essential for human health and well-being, yet millions of U.S. households struggle to keep their homes warm enough in winter or cool enough in summer. These challenges are often invisible from the outside, but they shape daily life: families ration heat to avoid high bills, renters navigate landlord-controlled thermostats, and many households face difficult trade-offs between comfort, safety, and affordability. As climate extremes intensify, understanding how people actually manage indoor temperatures becomes increasingly important.

A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University shows that the way households use their thermostat plays a larger role in shaping indoor temperatures than the type of thermostat they own.

Researchers find that those who set one fixed temperature or manually adjust their thermostats tend to keep their homes warmer in winter and cooler in summer, compared households with automated smart thermostat technologies. These patterns, while often rooted in habit or necessity, can increase energy use and raise costs for families.

“In the past, many energy utilities have assumed that people set their thermostats where they want them to be. But this misses the lack of control that some households have when it comes to their thermostats,” said Destenie Nock, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy. “It also misses the lack of access to thermostat technology in a lot of low-income homes.”

The study, published in Nature Energy, centers on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey, a resource covering more than 123 million households across the nation. By examining self-reported thermostat settings across seasons and times of day, the researchers identified clear differences in how households manage indoor comfort.

Findings show that those relying on smart thermostat automation maintained more energy-efficient settings, while households using fixed or manual approaches reported winter heating setpoints up to 2.3°F warmer and summer cooling setpoints up to 2.2°F cooler. The study also reveals racial disparities in thermostat settings that persist even after accounting for income, housing quality, and climate. On average, Black households reported keeping homes up to 2.2°F warmer in winter and 1.4°F cooler in summer than White households.

Access to technology is a driver of disparities in something as basic as being able to make your home a comfortable place to work or live.

Destinie Nock, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy

The research team suggests that expanding access to smart thermostats with support for using automation features could help households maintain safer indoor temperatures while reducing energy costs—but technology alone is not enough. Many families lack control over their thermostats, face barriers to adopting new devices, or live in buildings where insulation or HVAC systems limit the effectiveness of any thermostat.

“This highlights that access to technology is a driver of disparities in something as basic as being able to make your home a comfortable place to work or live,” said Nock.

By documenting how technology, human behavior, and household characteristics relate to indoor temperature settings, the researchers provide a clearer picture of individuals’ thermal comfort in their homes.

As further research will continue to examine the mechanisms behind these differences, Nock and her team provide a foundation for understanding how Americans experience temperature in their homes, an overlooked but pivotal aspect of life intertwined with comfort, health, affordability, and energy use.