Today, the digital association Bitkom published new survey results on smart home technologies in German households. According to the survey, 43 percent of consumers use smart home technologies – this number went up from 37 percent in 2020.
For this representative survey, Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom interviewed a total of 1,315 people in Germany aged 16 and over by telephone.
These are further insights:
- 43 percent of German consumers use at least one smart home application – these are 17 percent more than in 2018.
- Among the most-used devices and applications are smart lamps and lights to control brightness or light color (36 percent), radiator thermostats to save energy (25 percent), smart shutters or awnings (21 percent), smart or connected sockets to avoid standby mode (21 percent) and smart meters (13 percent) to track one’s own consumption.
- 53 percent of respondents said they had been able to reduce their energy consumption significantly (22 percent) or somewhat (31 percent) with the help of smart home technologies, while for 12 percent energy consumption had remained the same. Still, 90 percent of users would recommend the use of a smart radiator thermostat to friends and family.
- When it comes to security, consumers also use smart video surveillance (25 percent) to protect themselves or their own home from burglars, a smart alarm system (24 percent), smart home emergency call systems (six percent) or smart smoke detectors (five percent).
- For consumers, the use of smart technologies is crucial to making their own house or apartment more secure (74 percent), for greater comfort and quality of life (74 percent) or to save energy (72 percent).
Achim Berg, Bitkom President, commented: "Smart home technologies can make a very tangible contribution to using less heating energy and electricity. They are much more than a technical gimmick. They increase energy efficiency, provide greater security, and ultimately also enhance comfort and the quality of life in one's own home. A reduction in value-added tax for particularly energy-saving technologies would also encourage their widespread use in private households and would be a sensible addition to other support measures, directly relieving the burden on consumers and providing them with support in the run-up to fall and winter. The issue of IT and data security plays a significant role for many smart home users. Important: Don't go to the bottom of the junk box, but look for products certified to international standards and reputable, trustworthy manufacturers. And: protect your own WLAN, regularly update the devices."
Source: Bitkom
More information