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Detailed comparison of energy-related time-use diaries and monitored residential electricity demand

Detailed comparison of energy-related time-use diaries and monitored residential electricity demand
Detailed comparison of energy-related time-use diaries and monitored residential electricity demand
Understanding demand flexibility in the residential sector depends on understanding the causal link between household occupants’ activities and resulting electricity demand. Self-reported electricity use via time-use diaries is often used as a direct descriptor of occupants’ activities and has been integrated into residential electricity demand simulation models. Conversely, smart meter electricity demand data is increasingly used to infer occupants’ activities. Underlying both these approaches are a number of unverified assumptions about people’s perceptions of their energy use, the accuracy with which they report these activities and the physical operation of electrical devices. This paper carries out a comparison between self-reported energy-related activities and monitored electricity demand in 15 households over a week-long time period, with focus on electric hot water cylinders and heat pumps as appliances with large potential for demand flexibility. This comparison quantifies the extent to which self-reported activity is a predictor of electricity demand and conversely, whether electricity demand can accurately identify occupant activity. Results show that, although there is significant variation across households, self-reported activity tends to be a reasonably good predictor of electricity demand. However, due to the intervention of thermostat-controlled devices, electricity demand is not a good indicator of occupant activity.
0378-7788
418-427
Suomalainen, Kiti
e24aa474-218c-4e98-9783-47cef387e988
Eyers, David
5b960633-7b76-4d9d-91d8-0c46fd4cbc85
Ford, Rebecca
1e467051-ef18-46de-b522-fd153c1aceee
Stephenson, Janet
f2fec20e-a15a-44c8-9d60-1fec40d3e51f
Anderson, Ben
01e98bbd-b402-48b0-b83e-142341a39b2d
Jack, Michael
1c70a501-25a8-40c8-9248-46c879e0cc1a
Suomalainen, Kiti
e24aa474-218c-4e98-9783-47cef387e988
Eyers, David
5b960633-7b76-4d9d-91d8-0c46fd4cbc85
Ford, Rebecca
1e467051-ef18-46de-b522-fd153c1aceee
Stephenson, Janet
f2fec20e-a15a-44c8-9d60-1fec40d3e51f
Anderson, Ben
01e98bbd-b402-48b0-b83e-142341a39b2d
Jack, Michael
1c70a501-25a8-40c8-9248-46c879e0cc1a

Suomalainen, Kiti, Eyers, David, Ford, Rebecca, Stephenson, Janet, Anderson, Ben and Jack, Michael (2019) Detailed comparison of energy-related time-use diaries and monitored residential electricity demand. Energy and Buildings, 183 (15), 418-427. (doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.11.002).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Understanding demand flexibility in the residential sector depends on understanding the causal link between household occupants’ activities and resulting electricity demand. Self-reported electricity use via time-use diaries is often used as a direct descriptor of occupants’ activities and has been integrated into residential electricity demand simulation models. Conversely, smart meter electricity demand data is increasingly used to infer occupants’ activities. Underlying both these approaches are a number of unverified assumptions about people’s perceptions of their energy use, the accuracy with which they report these activities and the physical operation of electrical devices. This paper carries out a comparison between self-reported energy-related activities and monitored electricity demand in 15 households over a week-long time period, with focus on electric hot water cylinders and heat pumps as appliances with large potential for demand flexibility. This comparison quantifies the extent to which self-reported activity is a predictor of electricity demand and conversely, whether electricity demand can accurately identify occupant activity. Results show that, although there is significant variation across households, self-reported activity tends to be a reasonably good predictor of electricity demand. However, due to the intervention of thermostat-controlled devices, electricity demand is not a good indicator of occupant activity.

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Accepted/In Press date: 2 November 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 November 2018
Published date: 15 January 2019

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 429094
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/429094
ISSN: 0378-7788
PURE UUID: d47e91f7-8f0d-41b1-91ef-2a5d40340015
ORCID for Ben Anderson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2092-4406

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Date deposited: 20 Mar 2019 17:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 23:05

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Contributors

Author: Kiti Suomalainen
Author: David Eyers
Author: Rebecca Ford
Author: Janet Stephenson
Author: Ben Anderson ORCID iD
Author: Michael Jack

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