Intelligent management of baseboard heaters to level peak demand

This paper presents results from an evaluation of a demand response (DR) strategy applied to residential electric baseboard heating loads. The underlying principle is based on storing electricity as thermal energy in the building envelope and household contents before the peak period and then discharging that stored energy to maintain conditions for thermal comfort during the peak period. Five different variations of the strategy were tested at the twin houses of Canadian Centre for Housing Technology (CCHT) for a four weeks period in the winter of 2015 using a side-by-side comparative assessment. The tests showed that a load shift up to 4 kW for the first 30 minutes and a total shift up to 5.7 kWh during the 2-hour period was possible, depending on the outdoor temperature. The approach holds significant potential for shifting peaks loads in locations where electricity is a major source of energy for space heating.