Assessing the impact of wood stoves on the aggregated electricity hourly load profile of Norwegian detached houses

Abstract

Wood stoves are commonly used for the space heating of residential buildings, especially in Norway. While their influence on building energy consumption has been extensively studied, the contribution of wood stoves to building power consumption has barely been addressed in the scientific literature. Wood stoves typically have a relatively high nominal power (6–8 kW) and are common in most Norwegian homes. Thus, the effect of wood stoves on the heating power of households is expected to be large. However, this effect has never been demonstrated using measurement data. For this purpose, the paper compares the aggregated hourly electricity use of detached residential houses with and without wood stoves. The baseline space-heating system is electric panels, but air-to-air heat pumps are also considered. The results confirm that the contribution of wood stoves to the reduction of electric power is large (that is, up to $\sim$10 W/m² at $-$10°C), especially during peak hours when the occupants are present and active. However, wood stoves also decrease electrical power in the middle of the night, when occupants are not expected to operate the wood stove. This suggests that the ownership of a wood stove could also influence user behavior, such as the desired indoor temperature. These findings highlight the critical role of wood stoves in alleviating the stress of power demand on the electricity grid by replacing electricity with biomass heating. In conclusion, wood stoves play an important role in household energy use and have broader implications for power grid management and peak load reduction.