Smart home adoption is broad but uneven: connected entertainment is much more common than energy management or security devices in European survey data. The figures below distinguish people, internet users, households and adopters, while separating observed use from older estimates and modeled potential.
Key Smart Home Statistics
The most useful headline figures span adoption, device categories, ownership and expected outcomes:
- In 2024, 70.9% of EU people aged 16–74 used at least one internet-connected device during the three months before the survey.
- In 2024, 94.8% of people aged 16–74 in the Netherlands used an internet-connected device, the highest listed EU share.
- In 2024, 46.1% of people aged 16–74 in Poland used an internet-connected device, the lowest listed EU share.
- In 2024, 76% of EU internet users used internet-connected devices or systems.
- In 2024, 57.9% of EU people aged 16–74 used an internet-connected TV.
- In 2024, 16.0% of EU people aged 16–74 used a smart speaker or virtual assistant.
- In 2024, 14.2% of EU people aged 16–74 used an internet-connected home energy-management system.
- In 2024, 11.8% of EU people aged 16–74 used an internet-connected home-security device.
- In early 2022, 10% of German private households had a smart energy-management system, equivalent to 3.7 million households.
- In 2024/25, 55% of English adults personally owned and used a smart energy device at home.
- In 2024/25, 53% of English adults personally owned and used a voice-activated smart speaker at home.
- In 2024/25, 76% of English adults personally owned and used a smart TV at home.
- In 2024/25, 47% of English households owned one to three smart devices.
- In 2024, 54% of smart-home adopters wanted at least some unity among their devices in the ASHB survey.
- In 2024, 44% of ASHB respondents named convenience as a preferred smart-home outcome.
- In 2024, 38% of ASHB respondents named safety as a preferred smart-home outcome.
- In 2017 project framing, advanced residential comfort controls were estimated to save up to 50% of space-heating and cooling energy in the United States.
- In a 2030 U.S. scenario, 30% savings and 50% penetration of advanced HVAC controls were estimated to save nearly 1.4 quads.
Contents
- Smart home adoption across Europe
- Connected entertainment and device-use trends
- Smart home energy-management statistics
- Smart home ownership in England
- Smart home priorities and sustainability preferences
- Security, privacy and market context
Smart Home Adoption Statistics Across Europe
Eurostat’s 2024 ICT survey measured use during the three months before the survey among people aged 16–74. It is a recent-use measure, not an installed-base or household-ownership estimate.
| Geography or denominator | 2024 connected-device use |
|---|---|
| EU people aged 16–74 | 70.9% |
| Netherlands, people aged 16–74 | 94.8% |
| Ireland, people aged 16–74 | 90.6% |
| Denmark, people aged 16–74 | 87.0% |
| Romania, people aged 16–74 | 56.6% |
| Bulgaria, people aged 16–74 | 50.8% |
| Poland, people aged 16–74 | 46.1% |
Source: Internet-connected devices are widely used in the EU.
Using internet users rather than all people produces a related but different view. Eurostat’s 2025 digitalisation publication reports that 76% of EU internet users used internet-connected devices or systems in 2024, with country-level IoT use ranging from 52% in Poland to 95% in the Netherlands; Ireland reached 92%.
Source: Digitalisation in Europe – 2025 edition. These percentages should not be compared as though their denominators were identical.
Connected Entertainment and Smart Home Device Trends
Entertainment is the most visible European smart-home category in the supplied 2024 measures. Connected TVs led individual device use, while wearables and consoles provide connected-device context rather than pure home automation.
- Internet-connected TVs were used by 57.9% of EU individuals aged 16–74 in 2024.
- Smartwatches and fitness trackers were used by 29.9% of EU individuals in 2024; these wearables are not necessarily home devices.
- Game consoles were used by 19.5% of EU individuals in 2024.
- Internet-connected home audio systems were used by 19.3% of EU individuals in 2024.
- Smart speakers or virtual assistants were used by 16.0% of EU individuals in 2024.
Source: Internet-connected devices are widely used in the EU. The survey describes use in the three months before the survey.
Eurostat’s internet-user denominator gives a composite smart-home entertainment measure of 67% in the EU in 2024. At least half of internet users used smart-home entertainment in 26 EU countries; Malta led at 87%, followed by Ireland at 85% and Spain at 83%.
Source: Digitalisation in Europe – 2025 edition. The composite includes connected TVs, consoles, home audio and smart speakers, so it is broader than any single category.
Smart Home Energy-Management and Thermostat Statistics
Energy-related adoption is lower than connected entertainment in the EU individual-level data. In 2024, 14.2% of EU individuals aged 16–74 used an internet-connected home energy-management system, while 12.8% used smart home appliances and 11.8% used internet-connected home-security devices.
Source: Internet-connected devices are widely used in the EU. These are recent-use measures, not ownership or installed-base counts.
Among EU internet users, 15% used smart meters or smart lights for home energy management in 2024, 14% used smart home appliances, and 13% used internet-connected home alarms or other safety/security solutions. The appliance category includes robot vacuums, fridges, ovens and coffee machines.
Source: Digitalisation in Europe – 2025 edition. The denominator differs from the individual-level Eurostat figures.
Germany offers a household-based comparison: 10% of private households, or 3.7 million households, had smart energy-management systems in early 2022. Destatis included smart thermostats, meters and lighting in that measure.
Source: One in ten households have smart energy management systems.
Older U.S. evidence should be read as historical context. About 3% of U.S. RECS respondents reported a smart thermostat in 2015; only 12% of U.S. households had central air conditioning actually controlled by a programmed thermostat, about one-third of central-air households lacked a programmable thermostat, and 45% kept the thermostat at one temperature most of the summer.
Source: One in eight U.S. homes uses a programmed thermostat with a central air conditioning unit. These 2015 figures are not current smart-thermostat adoption rates, and a programmed thermostat is not identical to a smart thermostat.
Smart Home Ownership Patterns in England
England’s Participation Survey for April 2024 to March 2025 combines personally owned-and-used device categories with household device-count bands. Those populations must be kept separate.
| English measure | 2024/25 result |
|---|---|
| Adults with a Wi-Fi router or internet hub at home | 97% |
| Adults with a smartphone at home | 96% |
| Adults with a smart TV at home | 76% |
| Adults with a smart energy device at home | 55% |
| Adults with a voice-activated smart speaker | 53% |
| Adults with a laptop computer at home | 68% |
Source: Main report for the Participation Survey (April 2024 to March 2025). Smartphones and laptops are connected-home context, not necessarily home automation.
At the household level, 47% owned between one and three smart devices and 30% owned between four and six. Only 1% of English adults owned none of the listed categories, which included routers or hubs, speakers, security, energy, kitchen, toy or baby-monitor and other smart devices.
The source’s ownership wording combines personal ownership and use for the device categories, whereas the count bands describe households. The results therefore show reach across several definitions rather than one single smart-home penetration rate.
Smart Home Priorities, Control and Sustainability Preferences
The 2024 ASHB survey describes preferences among its respondents and smart-home adopters, not national adoption or observed outcomes. Convenience was a preferred outcome for 44% of respondents, safety for 38%, and climate control or HVAC for 22%.
Source: 2024 Smart Home Trends & Technology Adoption.
Control and sustainability preferences also varied within the survey:
- 54% of smart-home adopters wanted at least some unity among their devices, while 27% preferred unified control.
- 31% of consumers aged 18–34 rated sustainability highly preferable.
- 5% of consumers aged 65 and over rated sustainability highly preferable.
These are survey preferences, not measured energy reductions or national population estimates. A separate Houzz/CEDIA survey found that 45% of homeowners planned to install smart systems or devices during a home renovation; this was renovation intent, not confirmed installation or current adoption.
Source: Connected Thermostats Offer Gateway for Increasing Energy Savings.
Smart Home Security, Privacy and Market Context
The supplied security evidence supports careful interpretation rather than a single market-size number. NIST’s 2025 survey covered 401 U.S. smart-home users and examined security and privacy perceptions and actions across five device categories; the landing page provides qualitative rankings and ranges, not additional exact percentages to report here.
Germany’s early-2022 household data add context on connected devices: smart TVs were present in more than half of German households, and about one in six households had a smart speaker. The latter is a rounded source description, not an exact estimate.
Source: One in ten households have smart energy management systems.
Energy outcomes require an especially clear distinction between measured adoption and modeled potential. The DOE/PNNL project framing estimated that space heating and cooling represented 43% of U.S. residential energy consumption, or 9.5 quads, and that advanced residential comfort controls could save up to 50% of that energy.
Source: Intelligent Residential Comfort Control Applications. The 50% figure is an upper-bound potential estimate, not average savings achieved by typical smart-home users.
The same project modeled a 2030 scenario in which advanced HVAC controls achieved 30% savings at 50% penetration, producing nearly 1.4 quads of savings. This is a forecast scenario based on assumed savings and penetration, not a realized outcome.
Source: Intelligent Residential Comfort Control Applications.