What is energy disaggregation ?

Energy disaggregation refers to a set of computational techniques that are used to infer the consumption of individual appliances from the data collected by a sensor located on the main switch of a house.

How does it work?

Over the last two years, Voltaware has manually collected the electrical data (what we call the 'electrical fingerprint') from hundreds of electrical appliances. This has allowed the Voltaware team to build some algorithms that can detect the common patterns shared by electrical appliances of the same type, and to identify these patterns in your house.

What features does it offer?

Voltaware is able to split your electricity bill across your main appliances, enabling you to better understand and manage your energy usage. The disaggregation screens are available on a daily and monthly basis. Over the years we have managed to build a comprehensive appliance library that we are constantly updating and enhancing.

How many appliances can be disaggregated?

Currently the appliances disaggregated are:

• Air conditioner

• Cooking appliances (Electric oven, Electric stove...)

• Dishwasher

• Electric boiler

• Electric heating

• Electric shower

• Electric vehicle

• Fridge & Freezer

• Heat Pump

• Kettle

• Lighting & Entertainment

• Others

• Tumble dryer

• Standby

• Washing machine

Depending on the appliances you have at home, some appliances that have a very similar electrical signature might be merged in the report. For instance, an electric oven and electric stove are displayed as cooking.

We are constantly increasing the list of appliances that we are able to monitor, so more appliances will become available soon.

How accurate is the bill disaggregation?

We are proud to say that 71% of our users have reported that they are more than satisfied with our disaggregation results.Of these, 26% qualify it as "Good and accurate", 19% as "Very good" and 5% as "Excellent". Our goal is to keep improving and the more data we collect, the more accurate we are able to become.

Does it work on smart meters?

Yes, our algorithm can disaggregate smart meter data if it has a high enough resolution. A CAD device is usually plugged into the smart meter to send 10 second data or higher, which enables very high quality disaggregation.

How often is the machine-learning algorithm improved?

The data science team is constantly improving the models and an algorithm update is released every month. New electrical data is collected constantly to expand our appliance library, so more appliances will become available soon.

How long does it take for the algorithm to recognise all my appliances?

Voltaware automatically recognises your main appliances at home without you having to get involved.The disaggregation donut is available the next day at midnight, so by then you will have your first appliance breakdown;It will continue optimising over time.

Can Voltaware recognise multiple appliances of the same type?

Voltaware is able to recognise multiple appliances of the same type, but groups them in the same category on the disaggregated screen. For instance, if you have two washing machines, they will be automatically incorporated together into the washing machine icon.

If I incorrectly registered one of my appliances in my property details, can the algorithm detect it and change it for me?

The algorithm can't detect an appliance that is not registered; However, the registration information can be changed at any time in the app.

What should I do if one of the disaggregated appliances is incorrect?

If you have received the sensor from a utility, please contact the utility directly. If you have obtained it from Voltaware, please send an email to support@voltaware.com with your sensor ID and using your registered email address, explaining which appliance is incorrectly recognised. Our support team will look into it and come back to you as soon as possible.

What is the minimum consumption of an appliance that can be detected by the algorithm?

There is no minimal consumption for an appliance to be detected by the algorithm but an appliance with a consumption below 1% is merged into 'Other'.

What should I do if one of my main appliances is not being recognised after a month?

If you have received the sensor from a utility, please contact the utility directly. If you have obtained it from Voltaware, please send an email to support@voltaware.com with your sensor ID and using your registered email address, explaining which appliance is not recognised. Our support team will look into it and come back to you as soon as possible.

Can I download my data to a spreadsheet?

Yes, if you would like to have your data in an excel file, please contact your utility directly. If you have obtained the sensor from Voltaware, please send an email to support@voltaware.com with your sensor ID and using your registered email address, including the specific time period that you require the spreadsheet to cover.

What are the electrical quantities the algorithm is accounting for?

Voltaware is using more than 50 electrical features, such as active power, reactive power, harmonics, transient, etc.