[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-irish-researchers-decode-smart-meter-data-with-questionnaires":10,"sections":35},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":30,"feedback":34,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":34,"total_tokens":34},9521,"irish-researchers-decode-smart-meter-data-with-questionnaires","Irish Researchers Decode Smart Meter Data With Questionnaires","Researchers combined smart meter data with household questionnaires to identify power-hungry appliances, beating two rival disaggregation systems in testing.","Irish researchers have a way to tell which appliance is burning your electricity without putting a sensor on a single one of them.\n\nThe system splits a household's half-hourly smart meter readings into nine appliance categories - things like water heating, cooking, and lighting - using event detection for big power spikes (think kettles or immersion heaters) combined with estimates drawn from a short questionnaire about which appliances a household actually owns. No new hardware, no submetering, just existing meter data plus a few survey questions. The team tested it against two existing disaggregation systems across four datasets: a calibration home checked against a commercial comparator, the UK-DALE and REFIT public benchmarks with real per-appliance submetering, and a smart meter dataset covering more than 4,800 household-years from 2,968 Irish consumers. The questionnaire-guided method came out with the lowest overall decomposition error on every dataset and beat the rivals across 54 paired months, a result the researchers report as statistically significant.\n\nIreland's smart meter rollout already covers over 80% of households, mostly to support time-of-use billing, but 30-minute readings are too coarse to see individual appliances. A method that infers appliance-level use from data utilities already collect, plus a one-time questionnaire, is a cheaper path to personalized energy advice than installing submeters or smart plugs in every home.\n\nIt is a less flashy pitch than the smart-plug startups selling appliance-level insight one gadget at a time, but it works with hardware already bolted to the wall.","[\"smart-meters\",\"energy-research\",\"ireland\",\"disaggregation\"]","2026-10-02T04:00:00.000Z","2026-10-02T23:02:06.171Z","2026-10-02T23:02:10.923Z","published",null,[],"science",[26,27,28,29],"smart-meters","energy-research","ireland","disaggregation",[31],{"name":32,"url":33},"arXiv cs.AI","https:\u002F\u002Farxiv.org\u002Fabs\u002F2610.01297",0,{"sections":36},[37,41,45,49,54,58,61,66,71,76,81,86,91,96],{"name":38,"slug":39,"count":40,"latest_published_at":18},"AI","ai",5887,{"name":42,"slug":43,"count":44,"latest_published_at":18},"Security","security",835,{"name":46,"slug":47,"count":48,"latest_published_at":18},"Policy","policy",438,{"name":50,"slug":51,"count":52,"latest_published_at":53},"Deals","deals",317,"2026-10-01T22:00:00.000Z",{"name":55,"slug":56,"count":57,"latest_published_at":18},"Hardware","hardware",199,{"name":59,"slug":24,"count":60,"latest_published_at":18},"Science",171,{"name":62,"slug":63,"count":64,"latest_published_at":65},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",155,"2026-10-01T19:54:10.000Z",{"name":67,"slug":68,"count":69,"latest_published_at":70},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",96,"2026-10-01T16:57:03.000Z",{"name":72,"slug":73,"count":74,"latest_published_at":75},"Software","software",93,"2026-09-30T21:41:11.000Z",{"name":77,"slug":78,"count":79,"latest_published_at":80},"Startups","startups",90,"2026-10-01T21:55:22.000Z",{"name":82,"slug":83,"count":84,"latest_published_at":85},"Gaming","gaming",53,"2026-10-02T02:50:39.000Z",{"name":87,"slug":88,"count":89,"latest_published_at":90},"General","general",50,"2026-09-30T21:37:54.000Z",{"name":92,"slug":93,"count":94,"latest_published_at":95},"Reviews","reviews",31,"2026-09-28T14:31:34.000Z",{"name":97,"slug":98,"count":99,"latest_published_at":100},"How-To","how-to",7,"2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z"]