In an ongoing process, three diverse Home energy management systems (HEMS) have been implemented in the households in the Netherlands. Through a series of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups and usability tests, a wide range of knowledge in being gathered. Because of this broad approach, the insights that are gained are not only limited to the amount of savings that were achieved but also encompass participants understanding of, and control over, thier home energy consumption and the manners in which the HEMS is incorporated into their daily lives. This paper presents the first insights that were gathered through the in-depth contact with users. It aims to provoke an open discussion to further the development of the insights into guidelines for effective and useful HEMS.