| 摘要 |
A method of monitoring appliance usage within a building comprises monitoring two or more utilities 54,56, such as water, electricity or gas, and measuring one or more characteristics, such as voltage, power etc., relating to each of the utilities to provide a representative output signal. Changes in the state of each of the output signals are monitored at predefined time intervals. Data from the output signals from each utility are combined to identify one or more patterns of appliance usage. By measuring utilities at the point of entry into a building, complex patterns of utility usage can be used to extract information on what appliances are present within a building and the activities of persons within the building, without a large number of sensors. |
