Energy Demand Observatory and Laboratory (EDOL)
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Bartlett Sch of Env, Energy & Resources
Abstract
We use energy in our homes for heating, washing, cleaning, cooking, lighting, and powering our appliances for entertaining, socialising and interacting. Energy use is essential for our health, wellbeing, and comfort. However, domestic energy use is also responsible for almost a fifth of UK carbon emissions which have to come down to zero in the next 30 years. Energy use in homes is also the biggest driver of demand during the peak winter period which means it determines the amount, type, and cost of power generation capacity we need to have available to meet this peak. Currently, fossil fuels are often used to generate electricity to meet the extra demand for electricity during peak periods.
If the UK is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in line with national laws and our international commitments, we must reduce energy use in homes and stop using natural gas. Installing heat pumps and insulating homes will cost many billions of pounds when scaled up across the UK . This will happen at the same time as more electric vehicles are being charged at home, and more homes are generating and storing their own energy. It's essential we understand how these complex and overlapping changes will affect the UK's energy system. To use recent vocabulary, we need a 'track and trace' system for energy use in our homes, enabling us to understand how, why, and when domestic activity is impacting energy demand and associated carbon emissions. The data from smart meters help us understand these changes but it isn't enough to understand the complex picture that will be emerging in the near future. To understand new technologies, policies and business models that are appearing all the time, we need a much higher resolution data resource. EDOL will provide this.
The UK has led the world in access to high quality energy data and its analytics. The EDOL programme will build on the multi-billion investment in smart meters and their communication system and utilise emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and AI innovations to help us understand how and why we are using energy in the home.
EDOL will develop a range of innovative methods for monitoring not only the energy consumed by different appliances, but also the different energy-using activities that make up daily life at home. EDOL will then build a 2,000-home Observatory that is representative of the GB population of people and buildings. EDOL will monitor the energy used by occupants, their appliances and their behaviours. All data collected from people's homes will be done so with the occupants' informed consent. Data will then be anonymised and provided to researchers in a secure data portal for analysis to help understand and build better models of energy demand in our homes. In sub-samples of homes with uncertain, unexplained, or novel forms of energy demand (like smart charging of electric vehicles), we will undertake targeted 'forensic' monitoring to enrich our understanding.
Alongside the Observatory, we will recruit homes where new technologies, business models, policies and monitoring approaches can be trialled. These EDOL field Laboratories will allow us to answer novel questions: e.g., 'How flexible is time when people charge their electric vehicles?', or 'Does installing a heat pump have unintended consequences such as increased tumble drying of cloths due to lower radiator temperatures?'. We will build several field Laboratories and support other academics, government and business who may want to commission their own. Having the Observatory alongside these Laboratories means that we can tell how big the effects are by comparing the treatment group (Laboratory) with our control group (Observatory).
We will work closely with government to maximise the benefit of our data and analysis to support progress towards a net-zero energy system. We will also support other researchers by facilitating secure access to the data we collect and the methods we have developed.
If the UK is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in line with national laws and our international commitments, we must reduce energy use in homes and stop using natural gas. Installing heat pumps and insulating homes will cost many billions of pounds when scaled up across the UK . This will happen at the same time as more electric vehicles are being charged at home, and more homes are generating and storing their own energy. It's essential we understand how these complex and overlapping changes will affect the UK's energy system. To use recent vocabulary, we need a 'track and trace' system for energy use in our homes, enabling us to understand how, why, and when domestic activity is impacting energy demand and associated carbon emissions. The data from smart meters help us understand these changes but it isn't enough to understand the complex picture that will be emerging in the near future. To understand new technologies, policies and business models that are appearing all the time, we need a much higher resolution data resource. EDOL will provide this.
The UK has led the world in access to high quality energy data and its analytics. The EDOL programme will build on the multi-billion investment in smart meters and their communication system and utilise emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and AI innovations to help us understand how and why we are using energy in the home.
EDOL will develop a range of innovative methods for monitoring not only the energy consumed by different appliances, but also the different energy-using activities that make up daily life at home. EDOL will then build a 2,000-home Observatory that is representative of the GB population of people and buildings. EDOL will monitor the energy used by occupants, their appliances and their behaviours. All data collected from people's homes will be done so with the occupants' informed consent. Data will then be anonymised and provided to researchers in a secure data portal for analysis to help understand and build better models of energy demand in our homes. In sub-samples of homes with uncertain, unexplained, or novel forms of energy demand (like smart charging of electric vehicles), we will undertake targeted 'forensic' monitoring to enrich our understanding.
Alongside the Observatory, we will recruit homes where new technologies, business models, policies and monitoring approaches can be trialled. These EDOL field Laboratories will allow us to answer novel questions: e.g., 'How flexible is time when people charge their electric vehicles?', or 'Does installing a heat pump have unintended consequences such as increased tumble drying of cloths due to lower radiator temperatures?'. We will build several field Laboratories and support other academics, government and business who may want to commission their own. Having the Observatory alongside these Laboratories means that we can tell how big the effects are by comparing the treatment group (Laboratory) with our control group (Observatory).
We will work closely with government to maximise the benefit of our data and analysis to support progress towards a net-zero energy system. We will also support other researchers by facilitating secure access to the data we collect and the methods we have developed.
Publications
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Fawcett T
(2023)
Introduction to EDOL
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Grunewald P
(2023)
Energy use in crisis - lessons for net-zero?
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Grunewald P
(2023)
Bending over backwards: Poster presentation of demand flexibility trials
Description | CIBSE YEN Panel discussions |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | 8th November 2023 Dr Eoghan McKenna took part in CIBSE YEN Panel Discussion. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Contribution to Data Ethics and Governance Report |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | SERL's Simon Elam and Eoghan McKenna contributed to the Data Ethics and Governance - Towards UK Net Zero 2050 final report carried out by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) in conjunction with UCL STEaPP department. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/steapp/sites/steapp/files/data_ethics_and_governance_towards_uk_net_zero_2050_... |
Description | DESNZ Cost of Living Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | SERL researchers held a workshop with DESNZ colleagues looking at insights from SERL's work on cost-of-living crisis. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Lessons from Lockdown Energy Use video |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Dr Phil Grunewald took part in Oxford Sparks YouTube video on domestic energy use after lockdown. 799 views as of 5th March 2025. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwztgr4L1Vg&t=22s |
Description | Presentation to Oxford ZERO Institute |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation by Phil Grunewald and Tina Fawcett at welcome reception for the new ZERO institute director Paul Shearing. Attended by approx. 50 people. Follow up meeting with director of ZERO institute. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://zero.ox.ac.uk/ |
Description | Presentation to Scottish Government |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | About 30 employees of the Scottish Government attended a talk on the impact of the Cost-of-Living crisis on energy use in Scottish homes. This sparked discussions and follow-up interest. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Presentation to Scottish Government |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Dr Gesche Huebner and Dr Martin Pullinger of the SERL and EDOL projects presented "Energy use changes during the Cost-of-Living crisis - Insights from a survey study and smart-meter data" to Scottish Government colleagues. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Presentations to ANEEL Brazil |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Members of the SERL/EDOL team met with representatives of the Brazilian Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica and members of Brazilian Embassy in UK and UK Embassy in Brazil to discuss our work using smart meter data. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Press releases on EDOL launch |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Oxford, UCL and UKRI press releases on start of EDOL project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://edol.uk/News/Press/index.html |
Description | Smart Energy GB expert panel |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 15th September 2023 Dr Tina Fawcett took part in a Smart Energy GB expert panel talking about a range of topics including the importance of smart meters for research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Understanding and accelerating changes in energy use |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Phil Grunewald presentation to Oxford Energy Seminar 7th November 2023. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://edol.uk/News/Slides/index.php?svg=23_09_OE_day |
Description | Understanding and accelerating changes in energy use |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation by Phil Grunewald to Oxford Energy Day 7th November 2023. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://edol.uk/News/Slides/23_11_Grunewald_OE_Seminar.pdf |
Description | Workshop with Pecan St to explore collaborations |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The EDOL team met with representatives of the Pecan St project in Austin, Texas to discuss possible collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
URL | https://www.pecanstreet.org/ |