Unmasking the Role of Remote Sensors in Comfort, Energy and Demand Response

TL;DR

This study empirically analyzes how remote sensors in multi-room systems improve thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and demand response, revealing significant variations and potential for more precise control strategies.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive benchmark and analysis of remote sensor benefits in building systems, highlighting their impact on comfort and energy use.

Findings

Comfortable DR durations vary significantly across rooms.

Rooms at control temperature bounds deviate by -3°F to 2.5°F from average.

Cooling energy use increases with more sensors, heating varies -19% to +25%.

Abstract

In single-zone multi-node systems (SZMRSs), temperature controls rely on a single probe near the thermostat, resulting in temperature discrepancies that cause thermal discomfort and energy waste. Augmenting smart thermostats (STs) with per-room sensors has gained acceptance by major ST manufacturers. This paper leverages additional sensory information to empirically characterize the services provided by buildings, including thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and demand response (DR). Utilizing room-level time-series data from 1,000 houses, metadata from 110,000 houses across the United States, and data from two real-world testbeds, we examine the limitations of SZMNSs and explore the potential of remote sensors. We discovered that comfortable DR durations (CDRDs) for rooms are typically 70% longer or 40% shorter than for the room with the thermostat. When averaging, rooms at the control temperature's bounds are typically deviated around -3{\deg}F to 2.5{\deg}F from the average. Moreover, in 95% of houses, we identified rooms experiencing notably higher solar gains compared to the rest of the rooms, while 85% and 70% of houses demonstrated lower heat input and poor insulation, respectively. Lastly, it became evident that the consumption of cooling energy escalates with the increase in the number of sensors, whereas heating usage experiences fluctuations ranging from -19% to +25%. This study serves as a benchmark for assessing the thermal comfort and DR services in the existing housing stock, while also highlighting the energy efficiency impacts of sensing technologies. Our approach sets the stage for more granular, precise control strategies of SZMNSs.