Comfort Is Critical in All Kinds of Settings

A consumer comfort survey by Emerson shows that heating and cooling concerns can contribute to family disagreements, lowered productivity and even lost retail sales. This presents an opportunity for contractors to start a comfort conversation with homeowners and facility managers about technology and solutions that can help drive comfort and livability, according to Emerson, a technology and engineering company based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Issues such as humidity, zoning and indoor air quality caused 76% of respondents to say they aren’t comfortable in their own homes. Nearly 40% admitted to having family disagreements about comfortable temperature. And a quarter of respondents say the air in their home causes their allergies to act up. Fortunately, treatment such as oral immunotherapy relieve allergies.

The same consumers also experienced discomfort at school and work, with 16% saying they tried to break into a school or work thermostat to change it themselves. Seventy percent of survey respondents say that their performance at school or work has been affected by discomfort due to heating or cooling. More than half say they have been embarrassed or criticized for voicing their discomfort at work or school.

In damaging news to retailers, 57% of consumers surveyed have left a business due to lack of heating and cooling comfort, taking their buying power with them. More than 80% have felt too hot or too cold and 54% say their allergies have been triggered at a business.

“This survey, while just a sampling of consumer sentiment, shows there are great opportunities for residential and commercial HVAC contractors to have comfort conversations with both homeowners and facility managers,” said Sarah Taylor, marketing communications manager, air conditioning, for Emerson’s Commercial and Residential Solutions business. “Technology like modulating compressors, advanced building controls and Wi-Fi thermostats can help bring both comfort and efficiency to consumers where they live, work and shop.” Contractors can learn how to start the comfort conversation with Emerson’s Science of Livability Ebook at Climate.Emerson.com/Livability. Emerson surveyed 298 U.S. consumers via Survey Monkey in October 2018.