Adaptive setpoint temperatures to reduce the risk of energy poverty? A local case study in Seville

Abstract

The reduction of energy poverty is among the main current challenges. One of the recent approaches is based on the reduction of the energy consumption through the climate adaptability of users. This research analyses the possibility of using adaptive setpoint temperatures to reduce the risk of energy poverty. A total of 6528 cases are considered in the south of Spain in 2015 and 2016 with actual data of temperature, hourly prices from the Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer, and the mean household incomes in both years. The energy consumption and expense are compared to both the static setpoints established by the Spanish Technical Building Code and the adaptive setpoints based on EN 16798-1:2019. In the annual calculation, by using both static and adaptive setpoints, the results show that the situation of energy poverty would only affect the family units belonging to the first decile of incomes. However, a monthly analysis identifies that the coldest or warmest months influence more deciles: for example, January 2015 affected until decile 8. The results also show that adaptive setpoints could reduce the risk of energy poverty in most cases, being more significant in Categories II and III from EN 16798-1:2019, in which this risk is reduced in all months of the year and in all deciles. This study aims to throw light on the use of HVAC systems according to the adaptation of users to reduce monthly the risk of energy poverty.