Neighbors View
The Neighbors view of the Data Browser allows residential customers to compare their energy use against their neighbors over each billing period from last year. Three lines are displayed on the graph to compare the energy use of the customer, all neighbors, and efficient neighbors. If there are not enough neighbors for a customer or the customer is ineligible for a neighbor comparison, then an applicable message is displayed in place of the view.
Note: The term Neighbors is used in this view by default, but it is often replaced with the term Similar Homes. The terminology is configurable for each utility.
On this page:
Requirements
Same as listed in Data Browser.
Limitations
Same as listed in Data Browser.
User Experience
The Neighbors view allows customers to compare their energy use against similar homes over each billing period that falls in the last year. This section describes the user experience for customers who have billing data.
Fuel Menu
Electricity is displayed by default. If the customer is dual fuel, they will see options that allow them to switch between electricity and gas use.
A Combined view can be displayed, which combines electricity and gas costs into a single number using a price-weighted index. When the Combined view is enabled, the data point tooltips also display combined totals.
Time Menu
Above the data graph are forward and backward buttons that customers can select to display contiguous blocks of time. In the year view, for example, clicking the forward or backward button displays contiguous 13-month blocks of time for customers on monthly billing.
Since the data granularity available for a customer does not always match that of their neighbors, the energy use trends are only shown on the year view. Customers do not have the option of switching to a more granular view of data (such as the bill or day view).
Line Graph
The line graph uses a vertical axis (Y-axis) to represent energy use, and a horizontal axis (X-axis) to represent the time period. Three lines are displayed on the graph:
- You (the customer): Uses the "You" color, which is blue by default and commonly changed to the utility's brand color.
- All Neighbors: Uses a gray or neutral color.
- Efficient Neighbors: Commonly uses a green color because green is associated with energy efficiency.
See General Display Rules for details on how the graph behaves and how the data visualization can change depending on which view is selected.
Neighbor Details
The Neighbors view includes a section in the legend of the graph that, when clicked, displays a What homes are compared? dialog, which shows the characteristics of the homes that the customer is being compared to. The description can be dynamic or static.
The static neighbor description is nearly identical to the dynamic neighbor description, except that it is much shorter and does not dynamically display neighbors' characteristics based on available data. The dynamic description includes a list of comparison characteristics and other information about the comparison, followed by a link to the Home Energy Analysis survey.
- Summary Message: A summary message provides the number of neighbors or similar homes that are included in the comparison.
- Comparison Characteristics: A list of characteristics that a customer shares with their neighbors is displayed with a green check mark. If a characteristic is unknown for a customer, it is not included in the comparison and hidden from view.
- Neighbors or Similar Homes Definition: A brief line defining neighbors or similar homes as the 20% that use the least amount of energy.
- Link to Survey: Clicking this button takes the customer to Home Energy Analysis survey so that they can provide the latest details about their home and make the neighbor comparison more accurate. Note: The neighbor comparison does not get automatically updated in real time based on a customer's updates. This link will still appear even if the user has already visited the Home Energy Analysis.
Tooltips
Tooltips are displayed when customers interact with a data point on the graph. In addition to showing the time period and the customer's energy use, the tooltips in the Neighbors view also show an insight about how the customer compares to their neighbors or similar homes.
|
Comparison State |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Customer is using less than efficient neighbors. |
Logic: Customer uses at least 1% less than efficient neighbors. Example Message: "You used n% less than your efficient neighbors." Example Desktop Tooltip:
|
|
Customer is using the same as efficient neighbors. |
Logic: The difference between the customer and efficient neighbors is 0%. Example Message: "You used about the same as your efficient neighbors." Example Desktop Tooltip:
|
|
Customer is using less than average neighbors, but more than efficient neighbors. |
Logic: Customer uses at least 1% or more than efficient neighbors. Example Message: "You used n% more than your efficient neighbors." Example Desktop Tooltip:
|
|
Customer is using about the same as average neighbors. |
Logic: The difference between the customer and average neighbors is 0%. Example Message: "You used about the same as your average neighbors." Example Desktop Tooltip:
|
|
Customer is using more than average neighbors. |
Logic: Customer uses at least 1% or more than average neighbors. Example Message: "You used n% more than your average neighbors." Example Desktop Tooltip:
|
See Energy Tooltips for details on what the tooltips may include in other views of the Data Browser.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer messages can be added to the Neighbors view that are specific to the view. For example, the disclaimer in the Neighbor view might provide information about how neighbors are determined. The disclaimer messages can also include links to resources where customers can find more information.
User Experience Variations
Multiple Accounts and Service Points
If a customer has multiple accounts and service points, a drop-down list is displayed above the graph allowing customers to choose one and view data related to it. See Multiple Accounts and Multiple Service Points for details.