Demand Control of Baseboard Heaters: Lessons Learned from 50-home Pilot Study

This paper presents results from a pilot study in 50 occupied homes in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada to evaluate a demand response (DR) strategy applied to residential electric baseboard heating loads. The underlying principle is based on storing electricity as thermal energy in the building envelope and household contents before the grid peak demand period, and then discharging that stored energy to maintain conditions for thermal comfort during the peak period. During January and February 2016, a total of 13 DR interventions were executed. This field test showed that a load shift up to a maximum of 3.4 kW, with an average of 1.4 kW, per household was possible for the first hour, depending on the outdoor temperature. We observed a large variation in load shift between homes, partly depending on the thermostat set-point profiles, building and occupant characteristics. The approach holds significant potential for shifting peak loads in locations where electricity is a major source of energy for space heating.