COVID-19's Effect on Energy Usage in a Residential Complex in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

When the Indian government declared the first lockdown on 25 March 2020 to control the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, people were forced to stay and work from home. The aim of this study is to quantify the impact of stay-at-home orders on residential Air Conditioning (AC) energy and household electricity consumption (excluding AC energy). This was done using monitored data from 380 homes in a group of five buildings in Hyderabad, India. We gathered AC energy and household electricity consumption data at a 30-minute interval for each home individually in April 2019 and April 2020. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done on this data. To compensate the difference in temperatures for the month of April in 2019 and 2020, only those weekdays were selected where the average temperature in 2019 was same as the average temperature in 2020. The study establishes that the average number of hours the AC was used per day in each home increased in the range 4.90 – 7.45% depending on the temperature for the year 2020. This can be expected as occupants stayed at home and they have used AC more frequently during lockdown period. Correspondingly, the overall AC consumption increased in the range 3.60 – 4.5%, however the daytime (8:00 AM to 8:00 PM) AC energy consumption increased in the range 22 – 26% and nighttime (8:00 PM to 8:00 AM) AC energy consumption decreased by 5-7% in the year 2020. As the AC was used throughout the day during lockdown period, due to pre-cooling effect the AC consumption during the night time got reduced. The study showed a rise in household daily electricity consumption of about 15% for the year 2020. The household electricity consumption increased during daytime by 22- 27.50% and 1.90- 6.6% during the nighttime. It can be explained as occupants worked from home, and used monitors, laptops, T.V, internet, lighting which in turn increased the household electricity consumption. It was observed that the morning household electricity peak demand shifted from 7:00 AM in 2019 to 9:00 AM in 2020. Conversely, the evening peak demand shifted from 9:00 PM in 2019 to 7:00 PM in 2020. An additional peak was observed during afternoon hours in the lockdown. This indicates the occupants started waking up late, as they didn’t have to commute to their workplaces. Also, there is an earlier evening peak for 2020 than 2019, as occupants in 2019 used to come home after 6:00 PM from their workplaces. Further, study was conducted for two sets of temperatures (Set_lo and Set_hi) to study the impact of temperature within the years 2019 and 2020. The study establishes that the AC was used more (4.80- 5.60%) for the higher temperature days when compared within the year. As expected the AC consumption is more for the higher temperature range. Furthermore, the consumption pattern throughout the day is similar for both the sets each year. Similarly, the average number of hours the AC was used per day in each home increased by 3.40 – 6.00% for the higher temperature range within the year. The study showed that household electricity consumption was more by 3.00% for the lower temperature range when compared higher temperature range. However, the household electricity consumption pattern is similar for both sets of temperatures