YouTuber Ricky Buchanan has chronic fatigue syndrome and relies on digital technologies to get through each day, many of which she designed herself.
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Not keen on gas, Ms Buchanan is also very interested in the energy transition and would like to take part but lives in public housing.
The Melburnian hopes research by Monash University to be released on Thursday will push regulators to think about the importance of considering people with different needs in energy planning.
"I need to protect my health as best as I can," she told AAP.
"But I don't have access to solar panels, I can't change my gas stove to electric, and I can't even make my home more energy efficient."
The Future Home Demand report delves into more than 50 emerging trends in how households are using energy.
One such trend is higher demand before forecast extreme weather events, people quickly charge their phones, cars and other devices.
Major networks participated because they need new information to better model future energy use, as looking at past demand to predict the future no longer applies.
According to the research by the university's Emerging Technologies Research Lab, household electrification is beginning in the kitchen but occurring gradually.
The size of fridges and freezers, one of the biggest contributors to power bills, is increasing and there is a proliferation of small electric cooking devices.
People are spending more time at home because of cost of living pressures, which is increasing the use of multiple screens and more electricity use for gaming.
Households are also increasingly concerned about indoor air quality, sparking more demand for air purifiers and dehumidifiers.
More rooms are being heated and cooled, also adding to the load, the report found.
Pets are family members with their own "non-negotiable" energy needs, including smart devices to supply food and open doors.
The report uses data from 36 households supplied by CitiPower, United Energy and Powercor, as well as a survey with 1325 responses from their customers.
"Potentially we might be able to shift some of our energy use - that's a real interest of the energy sector right now, how can we take the most advantage of the renewable sources," lead author Kari Dahlgren told AAP.
Rooftop solar is increasingly appealing, for environmental and financial reasons, but the complexity can baffle households.
Households also continued to show little understanding of the various energy tariffs they are charged.
"Our research shows that demand management and these kinds of terminologies and configurations, the way that the energy sector is often describing them, is quite confusing for people," she said.
Renate Vogt, general manager of regulation at CitiPower and Powercor, said as the electrification of homes continues to grow, the trends uncovered by the power audit point to a greater dependence on the reliability of networks.
"This research is an evolutionary jump in how we model future electricity use," she said.
Bed-bound Ms Buchanan said she wants to be able to change when she uses electricity, to times when it is more likely to have come from renewable sources.
She has also asked the building manager about changing the gas stove to electric, and was told it wasn't possible.
Australian Associated Press
