Determining appliance energy usage with a high-resolution metering system for residential natural gas meters

•A module has been developed to detect usage signatures of gas-consuming residential appliances.•The module contains a high-resolution mechanical encoder to resolve small volumes of gas.•A module that includes the encoder can be retrofitted to standard gas meters in the US.•The non-linear motion of the gas meter has been analyzed and accounted for.•Flow rates from 7ft3/h to 250ft3/h can be measured, with a resolution of 0.01ft3. This paper presents a high-resolution automated meter reading system for residential gas meters, which can be used to record gas consumption for each appliance. The mechanical operation of an industry-standard residential gas meter is characterized, and the internal metering mechanism analyzed to develop a system to non-intrusively monitor gas consumption of individual appliances by resolving small amounts of gas usage at the meter. The system can be retrofitted to an existing gas meter with a module that includes a high-resolution encoder to collect gas flow data, and a microprocessor to analyze and classify appliance load profiles. This approach provides a number of attractive features including low cost, easy installation and integration with existing meter reading technologies. This system enables gas utilities to provide real-time feedback to customers on gas usage by appliance.