IoT-Based Indoor Thermal Environment and Occupancy Monitoring for Energy Poverty Care

Woo-Seung Yun, Wontaek Ryu, Hyuncheol Seo (), Won-hwa Hong and Seung-Woo Lee
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Woo-Seung Yun: School of Architectural, Civil, Environmental and Energy Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
Wontaek Ryu: School of Architectural, Civil, Environmental and Energy Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
Hyuncheol Seo: School of Architecture, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
Won-hwa Hong: School of Architecture, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
Seung-Woo Lee: School of Architecture, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: Energy poverty, defined as difficulty meeting the minimum requirements for a thermal environment, is becoming a significant social issue. To provide efficient welfare services, information provision and monitoring are required. However, characteristics of energy poverty, such as inconsistent residential patterns, small living spaces, and limited electricity and telecommunication resources, lead to a lack of information. This research introduces the empirical results of the development of the system. Based on the feedback from welfare workers and experts supporting energy poverty, a monitoring system combining various sensors was prototyped. This system measures temperature, humidity, illuminance, air velocity, CO 2 , black bulb temperature, occupancy, and noise and generates indicators for occupancy and thermal environment monitoring. Applicability assessment was conducted across 55 energy poverty households in Korea during the duration of cooling and heating. Subjects were living in spaces averaging 6.3 sqm within buildings over 43 years old and renting on a monthly or weekly basis. Electricity and communication are partially supplied. Based on the actual measurement data and field surveys, the configuration of an energy poverty monitoring system was proposed. In particular, the applicability of the simple methodology for the determination of black bulb temperature, metabolic rate, and clothing insulation required for a thermal environment evaluation was assessed. The proposed system can be efficiently used for taking care of energy poverty where the installation of conventional monitoring systems is restricted.

Keywords: energy poverty; indoor thermal environment; IoT sensor network; welfare service (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: 2024
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