Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology and the related computer program for the nonintrusive load disaggregation of total-household electric load into its end-uses. The computer program estimates the energy consumption of individual electric appliances in a house based on the analysis of the current measured at the house-power source interface using a minimum number of sensors. The program, written in the C programming language, is based on the analysis of total-household electric current data collected over a period of one year from a house in Montréal. The nonintrusive load disaggregation computer program can be incorporated into an Energy Monitoring and Management System (EMMS). An EMMS will (i) continuously monitor and quantify the real long-term energy impact of renovations, purchases, aging appliances, and changes in occupant behaviour, (ii) increase the home owner's awareness of actual energy performance, and (iii) provide helpful recommendations to the home owner for improving the energy performance of the house. The program estimates the contribution of selected appliances to the total energy consumption of the house. The contribution of an appliance to the total energy consumption is called the appliance energy share. The results show that for most of the appliances the difference between measured and estimated energy shares is less than 5%