Katalin Osz

1. Understanding Heating Practices: The Example of TRV Use Katalin Osz

2. Overview Why radiators and TRVs? Sensory ethnography and building energy monitoring (Re)defining heating practices The concept of improvisation and how practices change

3. Why Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs)? Space heating accounts for 66% of total energy consumption in the UK housing sector Heating energy savings achieved through retrofitting can be remarkably lower than calculated Installing TRVs is now a legally binding practice for every new built and existing property with a boiler replacement in the UK Households are expected to make significant savings through controlling individual radiators

4. Questions…. How people control radiators and TRVs at home under real life circumstances? What can householder’s use of radiators and TRVs say about the way these technologies are designed? Is space heating always routinized and habitual?

5. Home video tours Building energy monitoring Sensory Ethnography and Building Energy Monitoring • Capturing the flow of everyday life • What makes a home feel right? (sensory aesthetics) • Movement of interaction with control points • Gas and electricity consumption data • Weather data • Indoor temperature profiles • Thermography of radiators

6. Householder’s relationship with radiators and TRVs

7. (Re)defining heating practices

8. The improvisatory nature of heating practices

9. Improvisatory heating practices Apoint of intersection that brings together materiality, human knowledge, meaning-making, skills, creative resourcefulness, and the surrounding physical environment How human creativity can bring irregularity and change in routine practices It highlights discrepancy between stereotypical assumptions, pre-determined design and actual use A communicative medium because they are the users’ way of contributing to the design process

10. Thank you for your attention. E-mail: K.Osz@lboro.ac.uk