Citation: Saba, D.; Cheikhrouhou, O.;
Alhakami, W.; Sahli, Y.; Hadidi, A.;
Hamam, H. Intelligent Reasoning
Rules for Home Energy Management
(IRRHEM): Algeria Case Study. Appl.
Sci. 2022, 12, 1861. https://doi.org/
10.3390/app12041861
Academic Editors: Luis
Hernández-Callejo, Sara Gallardo
Saavedra and Sergio Nesmachnow
Received: 24 October 2021
Accepted: 1 February 2022
Published: 11 February 2022
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Article
Intelligent Reasoning Rules for Home Energy Management
(IRRHEM): Algeria Case Study
Djamel Saba
1,
* , Omar Cheikhrouhou
2,
* , Wajdi Alhakami
3
, Youcef Sahli
1
, Abdelkader Hadidi
1
and Habib Hamam
4,5,6
1
Unité de Recherche en Energies Renouvelables en Milieu Saharien, URERMS,
Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, CDER, Adrar 01000, Alegria;
sahli.sofc@gmail.com (Y.S.); hadidiabdelkader@gmail.com (A.H.)
2
CES Laboratory, National School of Engineers of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
3
Department of Information Technology, College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University,
P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia; whakami@tu.edu.sa
4
Faculty of Engineering, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB E1A 3E9, Canada; habib.hamam@umoncton.ca
5
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, School of Electrical Engineering,
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
6
International Institute of Technology and Management, Commune d’Akanda, Libreville P.O. Box 1989, Gabon
* Correspondence: saba_djamel@yahoo.fr (D.S.); omar.cheikhrouhou@isetsf.rnu.tn (O.C.)
Abstract:
Algeria is characterized by extreme cold in winter and high heat and humidity in summer.
This leads to an increase in the use of electrical appliances, which has a negative impact on electrical
energy consumption and its high costs, especially with the high price of electricity in Algeria. In this
context, artificial intelligence can help to regulate the daily consumption of electricity, by optimizing
the exploitation of natural resources and alerting the individual to avoid energy wasting. This paper
proposes a decision-making tool (IRRHEM) for managing electrical energy at smart home. The
IRRHEM solution is based on three elements: the use of natural resources, the notification of the
inhabitants in case of resources misuse or wasting behavior, and the aggregation of similar activities
at same time. Additionally, based on the proposed intelligent reasoning rules, residents’ behavior
and activities are represented by OWL (Ontology Web Language) and written and executed through
SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language). Finally, the (IRRHEM) solution is tested in a home located in
Algiers city inhabited by a family of four persons. The IRRHEM performance evaluation results are
very promising and show a 3.60% rate of energy saving.
Keywords:
decision-making tool; intelligent reasoning rules; energy saving; energy domain ontology;
smart home; protégé software; ontology web language; semantic web rule language
1. Introduction
A smart home allows its residents to control and manage the different home appliances
through the Internet [
1
]. The first developments in home automation appeared in the 1980s
thanks to the reduction of electronic and computer systems [
2
]. Therefore, the industry has
focused its experiments on the development of controllers, interfaces, and tools providing
comfort, security, and assistance within a building. Additionally, smart home management
systems use several technologies, such as the IoT, cloud computing, Internet, GSM, and
GPRS [
3
,
4
]. With a smart home, the indoor and outdoor surroundings of the dwelling
can be monitored remotely. Recently, thanks to smartphones and the development of new
technologies (for instance, apps and connected devices), the installation of smart homes
becomes easier as all electrical devices are connected through the Internet.
The term smart energy management has spread in recent years and it is associated
with several aspects of life, such as heating, cooling, and lighting systems [
5
]. This type
of management aims to save daily energy consumption through the use of AIT, such as
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