Household Laundry Appliance Resource Consumption and Operation Dataset

Area of Science:

• Sustainable energy consumption
• Household appliance efficiency
• Behavioural science in energy use

Background:

• Household appliances like washing machines and dryers are major residential energy consumers.
• Energy labels don't fully capture real-world energy and water usage due to user behaviour and operating conditions.
• Existing datasets often overlook user behaviour in appliance operation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Laundry Appliance Resource Consumption and Operation (LARCO) dataset.
• To provide a comprehensive, open-access resource for studying appliance efficiency and user behaviour.
• To bridge the gap between labelled and actual appliance performance for sustainable energy use.

Main Methods:

• Collected multivariate time-series data (1 Hz+) from washing machines and dryers under laboratory and household conditions.
• Recorded energy, water, temperature, and humidity, alongside metadata for various operational parameters.
• Included data on load sizes, programme settings, and ambient conditions for comprehensive analysis.

Main Results:

• The LARCO dataset offers detailed operational and environmental data, capturing real-world usage variability.
• It provides ground-truth laboratory measurements and diverse household usage patterns.
• Enables in-depth analysis of factors influencing appliance resource consumption.

Conclusions:

• The LARCO dataset is crucial for understanding and modelling user behaviour's impact on appliance efficiency.
• It facilitates the development of personalized energy feedback and more effective energy-saving strategies.
• Promotes more sustainable residential energy consumption by addressing the performance gap.