Clustering and analysis of air source heat pump air heater usage patterns of inhabitants in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau areas

Abstract

Occupant behavior is one of the most important factors influencing the level of energy consumption in the operational phase of buildings. The unique climatic conditions of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau differ from those of lower altitude areas. Therefore, to specifically investigate the characteristics of the active heating behavior of the inhabitants of these areas, four households are selected for this study. Each is equipped with a corresponding Air Source Heat Pump Air Heater (ASHP-AH) as their only heating equipment. The occupants' usage patterns and active regulating patterns are analyzed explicitly by clustering the ASHP-AH operational data of four households during the heating season using the K-means algorithm. The use of different time steps to reduce the dimensionality of the data and reduce the time and space complexity of the K-means algorithm in clustering is also discussed, and the Preference Cumulative Value (PCV) and Change Direction Frequency (CDF) are proposed to evaluate changes in the clustering results. These results are potentially relevant to improving energy efficiency in relation to occupant behavior.