Characterisation of energy consumption in domestic households

The UK is currently entering an energy crisis. The mass consumer market has resulted in significantly increased energy usage. Also due to increasing scarcity the cost of extracting and refining petroleum and coal is rising. For savings to be achieved consumers and employers need to be aware of where savings can be achieved with relatively little effort. Regular monitoring of energy patterns can indicate areas of unnecessary consumption. Reporting of power usage can provide savings of up to 20 percent. This paper presents a characterisation of energy consumption. The study has been conducted over a period of three years. During that time we monitored power consumption in two households and an office using wireless sensors. Once collected the data samples were transmitted to a web server for real time reporting. Our conclusions are that savings can be made through behavioural changes in domestic and commercial organisations supported by a modest investment in monitoring technology.