In single-zone multi-room houses (SZMRHs), temperature controls rely on a single probe near the thermostat, resulting in temperature discrepancies that cause thermal discomfort and energy waste. Augmenting smart thermostats (STs) with per-room sensors has gained acceptance by major ST manufacturers. This paper leverages additional sensory information to empirically characterize the services provided by buildings, including thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and demand response (DR). Utilizing room-level time-series data from 1,000 houses, metadata from 110,000 houses across the United States, and data from two real-world testbeds, we examine the limitations of SZMRHs and explore the potential of remote sensors. We discovered that comfortable DR durations (CDRDs) for rooms are typically 70% longer or 40% shorter than for the room with the thermostat. When averaging, rooms at the control temperature's bounds are typically deviated around -3{\deg}F to 2.5{\deg}F from the average. Moreover, in 95\% of houses, we identified rooms experiencing notably higher solar gains compared to the rest of the rooms, while 85% and 70% of houses demonstrated lower heat input and poor insulation, respectively. Lastly, it became evident that the consumption of cooling energy escalates with the increase in the number of sensors, whereas heating usage experiences fluctuations ranging from -19% to +25% This study serves as a benchmark for assessing the thermal comfort and DR services in the existing housing stock, while also highlighting the energy efficiency impacts of sensing technologies. Our approach sets the stage for more granular, precise control strategies of SZMRHs.

翻译：在单区域多房间住宅（SZMRHs）中，温度控制依赖恒温器附近的单个探头，导致温度差异引发热不舒适和能源浪费。为智能恒温器（STs）增加每房间传感器已获得主要ST制造商的认可。本文利用额外的感官信息，经验性地表征建筑提供的服务，包括热舒适性、能效和需求响应（DR）。利用美国1000套房屋的房间级时间序列数据、110,000套房屋的元数据以及两个真实测试平台的数据，我们研究了SZMRHs的局限性并探索了遥感器的潜力。我们发现，房间的舒适型DR持续时间（CDRDs）通常比恒温器所在房间长70%或短40%。取平均时，处于控制温度边界附近的房间通常偏离平均值约-3°F至2.5°F。此外，在95%的房屋中，我们识别出有房间的太阳得热显著高于其他房间，而85%和70%的房屋分别表现出较低的得热量和较差的保温性能。最后，显而易见的是，制冷能耗随传感器数量的增加而上升，而采暖用能则经历从-19%到+25%的波动。本研究为评估现有住房存量中的热舒适性和DR服务提供了基准，同时突出了传感技术对能效的影响。我们的方法为SZMRHs实现更精细、更精确的控制策略奠定了基础。