Analysis and Simulation of the Effects of Controlled Water Heaters in a Winter Peaking System

Electrical utilities in North America have shown a recent interest in load management. The management of air conditioning in sumrmer peaking systems and the management of water heaters in a winter peaking system are constantly discussed. This work considers the latter aspect. Some field tests have been reported in the literature. This paper develops, with some judgement and approximation, a mathematical model. The results obtained indicate the relation between the several variables in the process and the sensitivity of the peak reduction to the input parameters. The model can be used in a semi-interactive way as a planning tool to study the effect of load management. The resulting reserve reduction and the number of days of desired load management have been indicated for an example system.