>> So how do you write an algorithm that differentiates a car being charged from a
>> night storage heater or a kettle from an electric hob?
>>
I've no idea, but we keep being told that Smart meters enable us to tell how much electricity each appliance uses, and determine the most economical time to switch it on.
So I assumed that Smart meters can:
a) identify individual appliances - perhaps things have different footprints in terms of the pattern of their electrical consumption? (washing machines switch on and off, turn on heater element, thermostaticaly vary the current, motors stopping, reversing, etc throughout the cycle. A battery charger won't be a constant current - building up slowly, period of fast charge, winding down as it reaches capacity)
b) identify the price tarifs applying at any moment during the day, and time the switching of appliances so as to take advantage of the lowest prices. (We do that already in a simple way, just by setting the washing machine and dishwasher to come on at night on economy-7, but there would be so much more possible under variable tarifs that vary according to national electricity draw hour by hour)
If they can't do that then they aren't really being "smart" at all.
I would think that it's pretty easy to identify what kind of appliance is being used. Imagine a graph print out of current v. time, and then comparing the shape with standard images of different things. Nothing is ever straight on/off - even a light bulb will vary at crucial moments.
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