A Data Analysis Technique to Estimate the Thermal Characteristics of a House

Seyed Amin Tabatabaei, Wim Van der Ham, Michel C. A. Klein and Jan Treur
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Seyed Amin Tabatabaei: Behavioural Informatics Group, Deptartment of Computer Science, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Wim Van der Ham: Quby, Joan Muyskenweg 22, 1096 CJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Michel C. A. Klein: Behavioural Informatics Group, Deptartment of Computer Science, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jan Treur: Behavioural Informatics Group, Deptartment of Computer Science, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: Almost one third of the energy is used in the residential sector, and space heating is the largest part of energy consumption in our houses. Knowledge about the thermal characteristics of a house can increase the awareness of homeowners about the options to save energy, for example by showing that there is room for improvement of the insulation level. However, calculating the exact value of these characteristics is not possible without precise thermal experiments. In this paper, we propose a method to automatically estimate two of the most important thermal characteristics of a house, i.e., the loss rate and the heat capacity, based on collected data about the temperature and gas usage. The method is evaluated with a data set that has been collected in a real-life case study. Although a ground truth is lacking, the analyses show that there is evidence that this method could provide a feasible way to estimate those values from the thermostat data. More detailed data about the houses in which the data was collected is required to draw stronger conclusions. We conclude that the proposed method is a promising way to add energy saving advice to smart thermostats.

Keywords: smart homes; smart thermostat; space heating; energy usage; energy saving; energy efficiency awareness; degree day (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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