IoT-Based Home Electricity Monitoring and Consumption Forecasting using k-NN Regression for Efficient Energy Management

Electricity has emerged as an essential requirement in modern life. As demand escalates, electricity costs rise, making wastefulness a drain on financial resources. Consequently, forecasting electricity usage can enhance our management of consumption. This study presents an IoT-based monitoring and forecasting system for electricity consumption. The system comprises two NodeMCU micro-controllers, a PZEM-004T sensor for collecting real-time power data, and three relays that regulate the current flow to three distinct electrical appliances. The data gathered is transmitted to a web application utilizing the k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) algorithm to forecast future electricity usage based on historical patterns. We evaluated the system's performance using four weeks of electricity consumption data. The results indicated that predictions were most accurate when the user’s daily consumption pattern remained stable, achieving a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of approximately 1 watt and a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) ranging from 1% to 1.7%. Additionally, predictions were notably precise during the early morning hours (3:00 AM to 8:00 AM) when k=6 was employed. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating IoT-based systems with machine learning for real-time energy monitoring and forecasting. Furthermore, it emphasizes the application of data mining techniques within embedded IoT environments, providing valuable insights into the implementation of lightweight machine learning for smart energy systems.