Effective energy consumption scheduling in smart homes

Monthly expenditure on electricity by most households in South Africa take beyond acceptable percentage of their income. In order to keep the household energy expenditure below the energy poverty threshold, a daily electricity optimization problem is formulated using mixed integer linear programming (MILP) method. The energy optimization scheduling was carried out by a device called the Daily Maximum Energy Scheduling (DMES) device proposed to be incorporated into smart meters of households. The DMES algorithm was tested with household data set and was shown to be capable of ensuring that households spend less than 10% of their income on electricity bill monthly. This technique therefore, would be beneficial to consumers (for better financial savings and planning), utility (for effective energy and financial savings, and energy network planning) and cleaner environments as proposed for smart grid. Also, number of households in the nation living below the energy expenditure-based poverty threshold would increase.