Home Energy Analysisv1

Home Energy Analysis v1 is a visual, interactive tool that prompts customers to answer simple questions about their home attributes and energy habits. A customer's responses to the questions are used to create an energy use disaggregation that estimates how much energy the customer is consuming in different categories, such as heating, cooling, lighting, and so on. The breakdown is paired with personalized tips designed to help customers lower their energy use. The more information a customer provides, the better prioritized the tips will become.

On this page:

• Home Energy Analysisv1
• • Pre-Survey
  • Survey
  • Disaggregation
  • Bill-Level Disaggregation
  • Pre-Authenticated - EasyOpen
  • Data Requirements and Limitations

Pre-Survey

A customer can follow several different paths to the survey. The path taken depends on how the survey is promoted and the utility's setup and implementation. Below are some examples of common pathways.

• A customer follows a link in an Oracle Utilities Opower email communication (such as an Email Home Energy Report) to the survey.
• A customer signs in to the Web Portal, and then clicks a promotional banner on one of the pages or navigates directly to the survey (for example, by clicking the Home Energy Analysis tab).
• A customer visits their utility's website and clicks a banner promoting the survey, or signs in to their account and navigates to the survey by browsing the available links.

Survey Not Started: For customers who have not yet started the survey, the Home Energy Analysis displays information about the survey and provides the first question to begin the analysis. This messaging can include information on the estimated time it would take to complete the survey, as well as the benefits of completing the analysis. Customers who select to take the survey are directed to the full survey.

Survey Started, Not Completed: If the customer has started but not completed the survey, the pre-survey screen shows a progress bar and returns the customer to where they left off.

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Survey

The survey prompts customers with individual questions about their home and their energy use. It is designed to be easy to understand and simple to complete. Customers should be able to answer all of the questions they are asked, even if their answer is to skip the question.

• The survey may be pre-populated with any data already gathered about the customer.
• The system will skip irrelevant questions based on answers to previous questions. For example, the system will not ask how the customer heats their pool if they answered that they do not have a pool.
• There are free text entry answers, such as when indicating the size of their home. If a customer does not enter a valid number (for example, if a customer accidentally enters "10" in the square feet field) a message displays asking the user to change their entry.
• Customers are not required to answer every question to see the final results. They can skip questions and complete the rest of the survey to see their energy use breakdown and top tips based on what the system knows about them so far.
• Certain questions and response options in the survey may vary based on a utility's locale. For example, for some countries or regions, the "Cooling" category is not applicable and therefore may be hidden from a utility's customers. Or, the question "What is the main way you heat your home?" may present different response options depending on what heat types are commonly-used in a customer's country or region.
• Customers can click a link at the top of the survey to exit the survey at any time. Any questions the customer has answered are saved prior to exiting the survey.

As customers answer questions, visual cues provide customers a gauge to see how quickly they are progressing through the survey.

If a customer begins the survey but does not finish it, when the customer returns to the survey they are automatically taken to the question that comes after the last question they answered. If a customer completed the survey while not logged in to their utility account, all answers are saved for their account and are available when the customer logs in to their utility account.

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Disaggregation

After the customer answers the last question and finishes the survey, the Home Energy Analysis displays their energy use breakdown based on their responses. Customers can select each individual energy use category to see what percentage of their home’s energy use it comprises, category-specific tips, and a list of what contributes to energy use for the category. The category that has the highest energy costs is highlighted, along with a link for related tips.

Customers who have already completed the survey are taken directly to the energy use breakdown the next time that they access the Home Energy Analysis. They can use the Update Home Profile link at any time to view the survey again and update their answers.

If customers complete the survey without being logged in to their utility account, the energy use breakdown includes links for the customer to create an account or sign in to their account.

A set of buttons can be shown beneath the breakdown allowing customers to provide feedback about the usefulness of the feature. See Customer Feedback for more information.

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Bill-Level Disaggregation

The bill-level disaggregation provides the customer with a breakdown of their energy use and costs by bill period, as opposed to an annual energy use breakdown as shown in the standard disaggregation. Customers can switch between an Annual and This Bill view. Costs are totaled for gas and electric if applicable.

If the feature is unable to deliver a bill-level disaggregation for any reason, the This Bill navigation is hidden, and the annual results are shown. Insufficient historical billing data is the most common reason for this fallback.

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Pre-Authenticated - EasyOpen

Customers can also access the survey without logging in to their utility account. For example, customers who receive Email Home Energy Reports can follow a link from within the email to begin the survey, which includes a token to automatically identify the customer. If the customer navigates directly to the survey rather than following a link from an email communication, they are prompted to provide their billing account number and their full name as it appears on their bill.

After completing the survey, customers can view the energy use breakdown the same way that an authenticated user can. All survey responses are saved for the user account and are available to the customer when they log in to their account. Differences in the user experience include:

• Links are provided for the customer to either create an account or log in to their account.
• Only an annual breakdown with percentages can be shown. A bill-level breakdown containing more personalized cost information is disabled to protect a customer's privacy. (A customer can still view their bill-level disaggregation if they sign in to their account.)

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Data Requirements and Limitations

Requirements

• At a minimum, average energy use data for households in a utility's region and responses to the survey are required. The survey then uses the customer’s responses to adjust the average energy use values and yield personalized results.
• The recommended minimum is to use weather data and at least six historical bills, as this will support a bill-level disaggregation and lead to more accurate disaggregation results.
• There are other data requirements to show the bill-level disaggregation for AMI customers. Contact your Delivery Team for more information.

Limitations

• The customer must be residential, and can be electricity-only, gas-only, or dual fuel.
• The customer may see different categories, questions, and response options in the assessment based on the utility locale.
• Customers can access and complete the survey without logging in to their account. Any answers to the survey are saved for the customer's account. For subsequent attempts, customers must then be logged in to their utility account to view the Home Energy Analysis results for their account. This functionality is available for standalone deployments. To implement this experience in embedded deployments, refer to the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Embeddable Widgets Integration Guide.
• The Home Energy Analysis does not allow customers to switch between accounts.

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