The Use of Real Energy Consumption Data in Characterising Residential Energy Demand with an Inventory of UK Datasets

Abstract

The availability of empirical energy data from Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)—which includes household smart meters—has enabled residential energy demand to be characterised in different forms. This paper first presents a literature review of applications of measured electricity, gas, and heat consumption data at a range of temporal resolutions, which have been used to characterise and develop an understanding of residential energy demand. User groups, sectors, and policy areas that can benefit from the research are identified. Multiple residential energy demand datasets have been collected in the UK that enable this characterisation. This paper has identified twenty-three UK datasets that are accessible for use by researchers, either through open access or defined processes, and presents them in an inventory containing details about the energy data type, temporal and spatial resolution, and presence of contextual physical and socio-demographic information. Thirteen applications of data relating to characterising residential energy demand have been outlined in the literature review, and the suitability of each of the twenty-three datasets was mapped to the thirteen applications. It is found that many datasets contain complementary contextual data that broaden their usefulness and that multiple datasets are suitable for several applications beyond their original project objectives, adding value to the original data collection.