Finding the creatures of habit; Clustering households based on their flexibility in using electricity

TL;DR

This study clusters UK households based on their electricity usage flexibility to identify groups that could be targeted for behavioral change initiatives, aiding the integration of smart meters into energy systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel clustering approach to categorize households by their usage variability, facilitating targeted energy-saving programs.

Findings

Four distinct household groups identified

Actionable clusters for targeted interventions created

Clusters reflect different behavioral patterns

Abstract

Changes in the UK electricity market, particularly with the roll out of smart meters, will provide greatly increased opportunities for initiatives intended to change households' electricity usage patterns for the benefit of the overall system. Users show differences in their regular behaviours and clustering households into similar groupings based on this variability provides for efficient targeting of initiatives. Those people who are stuck into a regular pattern of activity may be the least receptive to an initiative to change behaviour. A sample of 180 households from the UK are clustered into four groups as an initial test of the concept and useful, actionable groupings are found.