Appliance monitoring and control systems

A method of providing feedback to a user of an appliance for energy saving, the method comprising:

• monitoring an energy consumption of the appliance;
• inferring a mode of use of the appliance from said power consumption, wherein said inferred mode of use comprises one of:
• an inferred amount of water heated by said appliance, and a temperature to which water is heated by said appliance;
• and
• providing feedback to said user responsive to said inferred mode of use to indicate how an amount of energy used by said appliance may be reduced.

A method of identifying the operation of a power consuming device from an aggregate power series, the method comprising:

• receiving an aggregate power series, the aggregate power series comprising aggregate power consumption data for a plurality of power consuming devices;
• filtering the aggregate power consumption data to separate the aggregate power consumption data into a fast component and a slow component;
• measuring an average power of the fast component;
• determining periods during which the measured average power is greater than a first threshold;
• and
• comparing at least one of the determined periods with a model defining operational characteristics of a power consuming device to identify the operation of a power consuming device.

A system for identifying the operation of a power consuming device from an aggregate power series, the system comprising a processor and code in memory for execution by the processor, the code configured, when executed, to:

• receive an aggregate power series, the aggregate power series comprising aggregate power consumption data for a plurality of power consuming devices;
• filter the aggregate power consumption data to separate the aggregate power consumption data into a fast component and a slow component;
• measure an average power of the fast component;
• determine periods during which the measured average power is greater than a first threshold;
• and
• compare at least one determined period with a model defining operational characteristics of a power consuming device to identify the operation of the power consuming device.