Predicting Residential Energy Consumption in South Africa Using Ensemble Models

This study presents ensemble machine learning (ML) models for predicting residential energy consumption in South Africa. By combining the best features of individual ML models, ensemble models reduce the drawbacks of each model and improve prediction accuracy. We present four ensemble models: ensemble by averaging (EA), ensemble by stacking each estimator (ESE), ensemble by boosting (EB), and ensemble by voting estimator (EVE). These models are built on top of Random Forest (RF) and Decision Tree (DT). These base predictor models leverage historical energy consumption patterns to capture temporal intricacies, including seasonal variations and rolling averages. In addition, we employed feature engineering methodologies to further enhance their predictive abilities. The accuracy of each ensemble model was evaluated by assessing various performance indicators, including the mean squared error (MSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and coefficient of determination R2. Overall, the findings illustrate the efficiency of ensemble learning models in providing accurate predictions for residential energy consumption. This study provides valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in predicting energy consumption in residential buildings and the benefits of using ensemble learning models in the building and energy research domains.