Smart thermostats differ significantly from traditional devices and are quickly becoming commonplace in homes. Literature demonstrates that thermostat interfaces greatly influence user interaction and related energy outcomes. Moreover, how users imagine their device to work appears to have a greater impact on usage than how the system functions. Previous work investigated manual and programmable thermostats in this context, employing user mental models (UMMs) to analyse user understanding. Since then, thermostats have developed significantly. This paper presents a novel investigation of smart thermostat UMMs. It employs contemporary methods to construct ten UMM diagrams, and three detailed case studies, contextualized with previous findings. All participants demonstrated feedback theory. Case studies highlight common misconceptions. Overall, smart thermostat UMMs appear to enable effective usage; however, some users are overwhelmed by the complexity, limiting engagement and use of features (e.g. programming).

智能恒温器与传统设备有很大不同，并迅速在家庭中普及。文献表明，恒温器界面极大地影响了用户交互和相关的能量结果。此外，用户如何想象他们的设备如何工作似乎比系统如何运行对使用的影响更大。之前的工作在这种情况下调查了手动和可编程恒温器，使用用户心智模型 (UMM) 来分析用户理解。从那时起，恒温器有了长足的发展。本文介绍了智能恒温器 UMM 的新颖研究。它采用现代方法构建十个 UMM 图和三个详细的案例研究，并结合以前的发现。所有参与者都展示了反馈理论。案例研究突出了常见的误解。全面的，智能恒温器 UMM 似乎可以有效使用；然而，一些用户对复杂性感到不知所措，限制了功能的参与和使用（例如编程）。